BYU’s Payne and Eaton Nominated for Governor’s State of Sport Awards
BYU student athletes Carlee Payne and Lexi Eaton have been nominated for major awards at Utah’s inaugural Governor’s State of Sport Awards. Continue reading
There’s a first time for everything, and this year, Utah will be hosting its first ever Governor’s State of Sport Awards. The inaugural awards ceremony aims to recognize athletic excellence across Utah, and two current BYU student athletes have been nominated for big time awards.
Utah’s sports media and industry leaders nominated BYU women’s soccer player Carlee Payne for Female College or Pro Athlete of the Year. Payne has a long list of awards that she’s accumulated throughout her years as a high school and intercollegiate athlete, and she says this one is just as special as any of them.
“Getting nominated for an award like this is an honor and it’s exciting, and the athletes that are up for this award are amazing athletes and I think that being nominated is an honor,” says Payne.
Payne is a second-team Scholar All-American and received All-West Coast Conference honors last season.
Women’s basketball player Lexi Eaton was also nominated for a Governor’s State of Sport Award. She is a finalist for Female High School Athlete of the Year, for her achievements at Springville High School during the 2011 calendar year. Eaton led Springville High School to a state championship and became the school’s all-time leading scorer. She had an unusually large responsibility as a true freshman starter at BYU.
“I worked hard over the summer and proved myself, and that’s what got me my minutes. I was able to take my abilities that I had in high school and kind of mesh them with the rest of the team, and it meshed well,” says Eaton, who started all 33 games this season and averaged 10.5 points per game.
Both Eaton and Payne expressed goals to be named All-Americans in their remaining seasons at BYU.
It’s up to the fans to decide the winners of each award. BYU fans can vote for their favorite athletes or sports moments from the past year, including Payne and Eaton, on the award’s official website, www.stateofsportawards.com. The awards ceremony will be held April 5 at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.
Brady Tucker
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