DENVER - Utah State basketball player Gary Wilkinson and Hawai'i track and field athlete Annett Wichmann have been named the 2008-09 Western Athletic Conference Stan Bates Award winners.  Wilkinson is the first Utah State student-athlete to earn the distinguished honor, while Wichmann is the third Hawai'i female student-athlete to receive the award.  Named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates, the annual award is given to the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes and recognizes the recipients' athletic and academic accomplishments.  The awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Wilkinson, from South Jordan, Utah, earned his degree in Sociology last May graduating Summa Cum Laude.  He is a two-time academic all-WAC honoree and was Utah State's Sociology Outstanding Student of the Year, the highest honor obtained by a sociology student during the academic year.
 
During the 2008-09 academic year, Wilkinson volunteered for Youth Firesides in which he spoke to local youths about various topics.  He also mentored incoming freshmen athletes to help them make the transition to college.
 
On the court, Wilkinson started all 70 games during his two years at Utah State and averaged 15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 58.2 percent from the field.  He was named the WAC's Player of the Year this past season in helping to lead the Aggies to a 30-5 record, both the WAC's regular season and tournament titles and an appearance in the NCAA tournament.  He was also named an AP Honorable Mention All-American.
 
Wichmann, from Jena, Germany, completed her degree in Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science this past spring.  She is a four-time academic all-WAC honoree and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American twice during her career.  Throughout her career at Hawai'i, Wichmann was a volunteer instructor at numerous Track and Field Youth Clinics and participated annually in the Bryan Clay Kid's Fest.
 
On the track, Wichmann set a Hawai'i record with seven NCAA Championship appearances and broke over 40 school records.  She became the first athlete in WAC history to win the heptathlon four times at the conference championships and won the pentathlon three times.  She also medaled in the javelin and high jump.  This past year, she was the Co-Field Athlete of the Meet at both the WAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships.  Wichmann was named to All-America teams in both 2008 and 2009.  She began her career being honored as the WAC Outdoor Freshman of the Year in 2006.

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