Each week the Dixie State University athletic department selects two student-athletes to be presented as athlete of the week, but this nomination does not compare the efforts dedicated to creating the PacWest preseason, weekly and postseason awards.
For DSU, Steve Johnson, associate athletic director of media relations, and Kerric Seegmiller, assistant coordinator of media relations, are the two primary individuals who select one female and male athlete for athlete of the week.
Each week Johnson and Seegmiller look over statistics for athletes who participated in their specific sporting event.
In some cases selecting an athlete can be difficult. If need be, other athletic department staff will be included in the deciding process.
“We welcome the hard decisions,” Johnson said. “It means usually our teams have been successful that week and [had] harder performances.”
Although all student athletes have the opportunity to be nominated for awards, setting goals can be an important step to achieving that type of recognition.
“Stay the course and be patient,” said men’s basketball guard Brandon Simister, a senior biology major from St. George, and is DSU’s most recent male athlete of the week. “If your number’s not called when you first get to a program don’t get distraught; just try to bring whatever it takes to the table and the team that will make them successful.”
And when it comes to PacWest nominations Simister’s advice still stands true.
Jimmy Knodel, assistant commissioner of strategic positioning for the PacWest Conference said when it comes to selecting nominees for any ward given by the PacWest votes are weighted to help decide from a wide selection.
Knodel said schools nominate student athletes based on the prior weeks performance. The PacWest Conference’s Sports Communications Director is in charge of compiling nominations and choosing winners; no voting occurs during this process.
In the event of choosing preseason and postseason nominations, the process is much different.
“Voters [coaches] typically list their top three choices at each position with one being the highest vote and points descending from there,” Knodel said.
Once the totals of each student athlete is compiled, a winner is chosen based on those results.
In recent events, DSU’s outfielder Janessa Bassett, a senior biology major from Stansbury Park, was awarded softball player of the week by the PacWest Conference Feb. 12.
To stay updated about awards and nominations visit The PacWest website or follow them on twitter @ThePacWest.
Jimmy Knodel, assistant commissioner of strategic positioning for the PacWest Conference, said when it comes to selecting nominees for any award given by the PacWest, votes are weighted to help decide from a wide selection.
Knodel said schools nominate student athletes based on the prior week’s performance. The PacWest Conference’s Sports Communications Director is in charge of compiling nominations and choosing winners; no voting occurs during this process.
In the event of choosing preseason and postseason nominations, the process is much different.
“[Coaches] typically list their top three choices at each position with one being the highest vote and points descending from there,” Knodel said.
Once the totals of each student athlete is compiled, a winner is chosen based on those results.
In recent events, DSU’s outfielder Janessa Bassett, a senior biology major from Stansbury Park, was awarded softball player of the week by the PacWest Conference Feb. 12.
To stay updated about awards and nominations visit The PacWest website or follow them on Twitter @ThePacWest.