Sports Briefs

Utah volleyball’s Dani Drews was named to the 2021 USA Volleyball Women’s Collegiate National Team. Drews, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, led the country in kills per set, averaging 5.21. The three-time All-American earned American Volleyball Coaches Association First Team honors for the second season in a row and helped lead Utah to a third-place finish in the Pac-12.

Several U students and alumni competed at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer. Incoming freshman gymnast Grace McCallum (center) was part of the U.S. team that won silver, while former U gymnast and current student MyKayla Skinner (right) took home silver in the individual vault. (Meanwhile, Red Rocks frosh Kara Eaker, left, had her Olympic hopes derailed by a positive COVID test at the Games.) Other members of Team USA included Nathaniel Coleman ex’16, who took silver in climbing; Jake Gibb BA’02 in beach volleyball; Alexis Lagan BS’17 in pistol shooting; and Hannah Flippen BS’17, who helped the U.S. softball team earn a silver medal. On other teams around the world, Anissa Urtez BS’17 competed with Mexico’s softball squad, while Leilani Mitchell BS’08 and Kim Smith Gaucher BS’06 returned to the Games on Australia and Canada’s women’s basketball teams, respectively.