Neemias Queta, left, and Autumn Deharde, right, were named the Male and Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, at the annual Robins Awards
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men’s basketball junior Neemias Queta and gymnastics senior Autumn DeHarde were named the Male and Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, at the annual Robins Awards, taking place via an online stream on Saturday, April 10.
Queta rewrote the defensive record books at Utah State, setting records in single-game, single-season and career blocks during his three years at Utah State. Queta finished the 2020-21 season as one of four finalists for the Naismith Defense Player of the Year, given annually to the top defender in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Queta led the nation with 97 blocks in 2020-21 and was the only player in the Mountain West to finish the year averaging a double-double, turning in 14.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Futhermore, Queta is one of only two players in the NCAA since 1992-93 to finish the year averaging more than 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Queta was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year twice in his career and earned AP honorable mention All-American honors in 2020-21, along with a trio of all-Mountain West honors.
Other nominees for Male Athlete of the Year included cross country sophomore Camren Todd, golf senior Colten Cordingley, track & field senior Kyle Morris, tennis senior Felipe Acosta and football senior Shaq Bond.
DeHarde earned her second straight Female Athlete of the Year award after finishing her stellar Aggie career by being named the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Beam Specialist of the Year in consecutive seasons. She appeared in three NCAA Regional Championships, and would have qualified for a fourth had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when she was named the MRGC Gymnast of the Year. She is the school record holder with 16 career beam titles. As a senior in 2021, DeHarde helped lead the Aggies to three of their best all-time team scores in school history with a 196.775 (third) at the Denver tri meet, a 196.600 (tied for fifth) at BYU and a 196.500 (seventh) at Utah. She also helped the Aggies notch a 196.225 at home against Southern Utah, a score this is tied for the seventh-best team score in school history.
Other nominees for Female Athlete of the Year included basketball senior Jessica Chatman, cross country junior Mica Rivera, track & field senior Maia Garren, volleyball junior Kristy Frank, softball junior Gabriella Jimenez, tennis sophomore Zara Ryan and soccer senior Ashley Cardozo.
Finalists for the Athlete of the Year were selected by members of the athletics department. A selection committee over these categories then selected the winners. The awards were just two of 16 honors extended by the University during the event, with students, faculty and staff all receiving recognition for their individual contributions to Utah State.
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