Stephen Madison — men’s basketball
After taking down the WAC powerhouse New Mexico State 73-67 on Thursday, the Idaho men’s basketball team had to overcome some ugly statistics to beat the Texas-Pan American Broncs in overtime by a score of 70-63 on Saturday. A big part of the Vandals offense came from senior forward Stephen Madison. In Thursday’s game, Madison logged 24 points while also gathering eight rebounds. Saturday, he was able to top that performance, by scoring a game-high 22 points while grabbing 13 boards for his sixth double-double of the season. He leads the team in both of those statistics and continues to be a big factor in Idaho’s offense. The Vandals are on the road this week when they visit Cal State-Bakersfield on Thursday and Utah Valley on Saturday.
Stacey Barr — women’s basketball
The Idaho women’s basketball team continues to dominate on the court, going 10-0 in WAC play. The team is showing a type of success that hasn’t been seen since the 1985-86 Idaho team that was able to rack up 10 straight WAC wins. One key contributor to that success for the Vandals has been Stacey Barr. Barr, a junior from Melbourne, Australia, leads the team in both scoring and rebounding. Last week, Barr recorded her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season in wins over New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American. She garnered 22 points and 10 rebounds against NMSU and then followed that up with a 22-point 13-rebound performance against UTPA. The Vandals return to the Cowan Spectrum Thursday to take on Cal State-Bakersfield and then follow up with the “Hoops for Hope” game Saturday against Utah Valley.
Arphaxad Carroll — men’s track and field
The men’s track and field team competed at home this weekend in its last home meet until the WAC Championship meet in the Kibbie Dome. Many athletes competed well, but one stood out when it came to the men’s side. Arphaxad Carroll, a freshman from Las Vegas, was able to help the Vandals take first and second place in the triple jump. His leap of 46 feet, 1.25 inches was good enough for first while his teammate Emmanuel Panchol took second with a leap of 45-5.75. Carroll also finished as the top collegiate racer in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.00 seconds. The next meet for the Vandals is Friday and Saturday in Seattle,. for the Husky Classic.
Karlene Hurrel — women’s track and field
The Vandal women also competed at home in the Vandal Indoor track meet over the weekend. One particular standout was senior sprinter Karlene Hurrel, who was a double champion on the weekend. She was able to pull out a win in the 60 with a time of 7.65 and then followed that up with a win in the 200 with a time of 24.42.
“Karlene had an awesome day today,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said. “We worked a little harder and longer up to the first meets and I think that is really paying off now.”
Galina Bykova — women’s tennis
The Idaho women’s tennis team won it its WAC opener over Seattle U Saturday. The team ended up sweeping the Redhawks with a dominating doubles performance and four straight-set singles wins. With the whole team showing some dominance in the match, one player ended up standing out over the rest. Galina Bykova, a freshman from St. Petersburg, Russia, won the No. 3 singles match in a 6-0, 6-0 straight set victory. She was also able to win her No. 3 doubles match with Alejandra Lozano in a 6-2 performance. The Vandals, now 4-1, return to action this week when they face Fresno State on Thursday and Utah State on Friday. Both matches are in Pullman.