Utah State Names Sam Merrill, Autumn DeHarde Male, Female Athletes Of The Year
Apr 14, 2020, 1:39 PM
Sam Merrill #5 of the Utah State Aggies shoots against the New Mexico Lobos during their game at The Pit on February 29, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State named basketball senior guard Sam Merrill and gymnastics junior Autumn DeHarde as Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
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The two received their awards at the annual Robins Awards, which took place via online stream on Saturday, April 11.
Merrill led the Aggies to its second straight Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship after getting Utah State the victory with an iconic buzzer-beating three pointer in the final seconds.
The Bountiful, Utah native was named first team All-Mountain West in two straight seasons after winning the Player of the Year award after the 2018-19 season.
Merrill averaged a team best 19.7 points and 3.9 assists per game. In his career at Utah State, Merrill scored 2,197 points which is second all-time in school history.
🌟 Mountain West Moments 🌟@USUBasketball's @smerrill05 describes his game-winning shot in the 2020 Mountain West Tournament Championship game.
📝 https://t.co/XPrcoVIsvG pic.twitter.com/HFENAnqEjx
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) April 13, 2020
Other nominees for Male Athlete of the Year included track & field junior Josh Barclay, tennis senior Sergiu Bucur, football senior Dominik Eberle, cross country/track & field graduate Dallin Farnsworth and golf senior Chase Lansford.
DeHarde had a tremendous junior season for Utah State. She was named the 2020 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Gymnast of the Year, along with Co-Beam Specialist of the Year and Co-Floor Specialist of the Year.
On top of those awards, DeHarde earned first team All-MRGC honors on both beam and floor after leading the conference in both events during the season. She averaged a school-record 9.889 on the beam and had more individual titles than any other Aggie during the 2020 season.
Other nominees for Female Athlete of the Year included basketball senior Hailey Bassett, volleyball junior Bailey Downing, track & field sophomore Audrey Garrett, tennis senior Lucy Octave, softball junior Stephanie Reed and cross country/track & field junior Katie Struthers-Haviland.
The finalists for Athlete of the Year was selected by members of the athletics department. A selection committee over these categories then selected the winners.
The awards were just two of 20 honors extended by the University during the event, with students, faculty and staff all receiving recognition to their individual contributions to Utah State.
Soccer senior Mealii Enos also represented the Aggies as she was a nominee for the Scholar of the Year. Enos was a three-time academic all-district honoree and earned academic all-Mountain West accolades all four years. Enos maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her academic career and will graduate with a degree in special education, communication disorders and deaf education.
