Ohno is on his way to Utah

Coming off his victory in Dancing with the Stars, Apolo Anton Ohno said he intends to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and will begin training at the Utah Olympic Oval this summer with the national short-track speedskating team. "We are proud of the successes Apolo has achieved on and off the ice. It can only benefit the team and the sport that he has committed to preparing for the next Games," said U.S. Speedskating Executive Director Robert Crowley. The first national short-track event, The Americas Cup, will be held Sept. 29-30 in Midland, Mich.

Nate Roberts, a moguls skier from Park City, received the Buddy Werner Award for sportsmanship last week at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's (USSA) annual congress in Park City.

Roberts, who had two World Cup wins and a World Championships bronze medal, was one of four individual Utahns honored at the meeting. The Park City Freestyle team also was selected as "Club of the Year" in freestyle.

Also singled out by the USSA were disabled cross country skier Steve Cook, of Salt Lake City, a Paralympics and world champion; ski jumper Lindsay Van, of Park City, who won three events and finished third in the Continental Cup standings; and Chuck Ferries, a two-time U.S. Olympic ski racer and former USSA chairman who is chief executive of a Utah company that makes Chums and Chisco eyeglass retainers and lanyards.

Nordic Combined skier Bill Demong, 27, a native of Vermontville, N.Y. who trains often at Utah's Olympic jumping and cross-country skiing facilities, received the USSA's highest athletic award. A three-time Olympian, he captured a silver medal in the combined individual event at the 2007 Nordic World Championships, won a World Cup a week later and then swept all three U.S. ski jumping and Nordic combined U.S. titles.

Two other part-time Utah residents, Lindsey Kildow and Andy Newell, were honored as the year's top U.S. athletes in Alpine and cross country skiing, respectively.

Basketball

Oregon prep commits to Weber

Mikell Woodfield of LaGrande, Ore., signed a letter of intent to play for the Weber State women's basketball team and will join the Wildcats for the 2007-08 season. As a senior, she averaged 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals, and 1.5 blocks per game for LaGrande.

Baseball

Two T-birds on All-Mid-Con team

Southern Utah sophomore Chester Wilson and junior Joe Wright were selected to the Mid-Continent Conference first team.

Wright led the team with a .400 average and a team-high seven doubles in 19 games during conference play, while Wilson hit .329 and racked up a team-high 16 RBIs and four home runs.

Second-team honorees included Cameron Nelson, Bucky Aona, Keli'i Zablan and Alec Reichle.

Golf

UVSC senior receives honor

Utah Valley senior golfer Nic van Vuuren was named to the Division I All-Independent golf team for the third time in his career. He was named the independent golfer of the year in 2006.

The South African native had three top-five and five top-10 finishes, including a second-place finish at the Vandal Fall Classic and a third-place finish at the Division I Independent Championship.

In 11 tournaments, van Vuuren had a stroke average of 72.5.

Football

Texas prep WR commits to BYU

Atem Bol, a receiver from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, has orally committed to play football for BYU.

Bol, 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, is a native of Sudan and has lived in the U.S. since 1998. BYU has now received nine commitments for the February 2008 signing period.

- Combined news services