Utah

Hiker runs out of water, dies in scorching heat near Utah state park, authorities say

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2024

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Hiker runs out of water, dies in scorching heat near Utah state park, authorities say

7/22: CBS Evening News

19:37

Hurricane, Utah — A 56-year-old woman died while hiking near a state park in southwestern Utah over the weekend after running out of water on a sweltering day, police said.

Emergency crews responded near Quail Creek State Park on Sunday to a report of a hiker “in distress due to not having enough water and the temperature being 106 degrees,” the Hurricane City Police Department said in a statement.

She was unresponsive when rescuers found her and life-saving measures weren’t successful, police said. Her name and hometown haven’t been released.

The woman’s death is one of several believed to be heat-related in the western United States over the past several weeks.

Three hikers died in state and national parks in Utah over the previous weekend, including a father and daughter from Wisconsin who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands National Park in triple-digit temperatures. A 30-year-old woman died in Snow Canyon State Park while two others were suffering from heat exhaustion.

Three hikers died in recent weeks at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, where summer temperatures on exposed parts of the trails can exceed 120 degrees.

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Utah

Jazz G Isaiah Collier Nearing Season Debut After Injury

Published

2 hours ago

November 3, 2025

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Jazz G Isaiah Collier Nearing Season Debut After Injury

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Utah

Koki Riley: What to do with Miami, and why Utah made a leap in AP Top-25 Poll after Week 10

Published

20 hours ago

November 2, 2025

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Koki Riley: What to do with Miami, and why Utah made a leap in AP Top-25 Poll after Week 10

On Thursday, Awful Announcing — a blog dedicated to covering sports media news nationally — pondered whether I was the best or worst AP poll voter.

I don’t have a clue which side of the spectrum I land on, but I appreciate the fact that there’s at least one person who is listening to the reasoning behind my selections. I always strive to provide fair and honest analysis, even if it’s extreme or unique in comparison to the consensus.

So with that said, let’s break down my poll after Week 10.

My AP Top-25 poll after Week 10

1. Indiana, 2. Texas A&M, 3. Ohio State, 4. Alabama, 5. Georgia, 6. Texas Tech, 7. Notre Dame, 8. Ole Miss, 9. BYU, 10. Oregon, 11. Louisville, 12. Oklahoma, 13. Utah, 14. Miami, 15. Southern Cal, 16. Texas, 17. Missouri, 18. Vanderbilt, 19. Michigan, 20. Washington, 21. Tennessee, 22. Illinois, 23. Virginia, 24. Georgia Tech, 25. Iowa

Just missed: Houston, TCU, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati

What I did with Miami

It felt like dropping Miami to No. 14 in my poll wasn’t enough after the Hurricanes’ loss to SMU. The loss means Miami is just 2-2 in ACC play and the Ponies already had three defeats heading into this week, including two losses to middling at best teams in Baylor and Wake Forest.

But this loss wasn’t as devastating as it may have seemed on the surface. SMU still only has one defeat in conference play, and Miami’s only other loss comes to a Louisville team that I have at No. 11 in my poll.

It seems like Miami’s College Football Playoff hopes are done, but the Hurricanes still have a win over a top-10 team (Notre Dame) and dominated a pretty good South Florida team. The Notre Dame win kept Miami ahead of Texas and USC. Neither team holds a win that impressive, and they have flaws in their own right.

Texas earned a huge win over Vanderbilt this week and beat Oklahoma, but also lost to Florida and probably should’ve fallen to lowly Kentucky and Mississippi State. USC snuck past Nebraska on the road this week and beat Michigan, but the Trojans — unlike Miami — lost to the Irish.

Sliding up to No. 6 in Miami’s place was Texas Tech after the Red Raiders dominated another Big 12 team (Kansas State) on Saturday. Besides one loss with the backup quarterback on the road, Tech has been unstoppable.

I prefer the Red Raiders over Notre Dame, given that the Irish needed a late touchdown to pull away from a woeful Boston College team this weekend and have a weaker strength of record, according to ESPN.

Utah’s rise

Utah’s lack of stellar play at quarterback still makes me nervous, but its resume has become impossible to ignore at this point.

When they haven’t lost, the Utes have blown everyone out, including this weekend when they crushed Cincinnati 45-14 at home. It was the sort of statement victory they needed, given that their best win before this week was over Sam Leavitt-less ASU at home.

The lopsided wins, combined with the fact that its only defeats came to top-10 teams in my poll, were why the Utes made a meteoric rise in my rankings this week.

Other notes

Virginia is at No. 12 in the overall poll, but is only 24th in my poll for a couple of different reasons. The Cavaliers have a great overtime win over Louisville, but close wins over North Carolina, Florida State and Washington State, and a loss to NC State make me question what their actual quality is.

Oddly enough, the team below them in my poll also lost to NC State this week. I’ve consistently been lower on Georgia Tech because of the lack of competition it’s faced to this point, despite being undefeated.

The Yellow Jackets still made my poll because beating Duke on the road isn’t easy, and an 8-1 record for a Power Four conference team is still pretty good. They’ll be tested to end the year as they face Pittsburgh and Georgia to finish the season.

Iowa was the last team out a week ago, but the Hawkeyes are in this week despite not playing because Houston and Cincinnati lost. Iowa lacks a strong win, and the Iowa State loss doesn’t look great, but the Hawkeyes have managed to be the only team that’s lost to Indiana by single digits.

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21-year-old University of Utah student wins $125K in ESPN kicking contest

Published

2 days ago

November 1, 2025

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21-year-old University of Utah student wins 5K in ESPN kicking contest

SALT LAKE CITY — A 21-year-old University of Utah senior is $125,000 richer after kicking a 33-yard field goal for Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest during ESPN’s “College GameDay” Saturday.

The challenge is part of the “College GameDay” experience that has taken over many college campuses in anticipation of big games, like the one Saturday night against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The challenge itself was started by former NFL punter Pat McAfee to prove that scoring a field goal is much harder than it looks. Upward of $1 million is put on the line, much of it going to charity, and another portion going to the kickers themselves.

Jonah Knubel was among the hundreds of people who camped overnight, hoping that his ticket would be drawn. As chance would have it, his ticket was not drawn. But, as circumstance would have it, he would be the one to perform the challenge.

“My ticket was not called for the contest, but the guy who won the raffle looked over and said, ‘I’m not kicking this. I’m way too nervous. I don’t know how to kick,” Knuble recalled. “I said, ‘Hello! I’ll kick it for you, because I have experience kicking.’”

Knubel’s experience came from playing on the Jordan High School football team as a kicker his senior year, where he earned All-Region honors.

After speaking with the powers that be, it was agreed that Knubel would attempt the 33-yard kick, but the $1 million prize money would be split between him and the ticket holder. Added to the wager was a prediction by McAfee himself, who said that if Knubel made it, Utah would be the sure winner of tonight’s game.

“It kind of felt like a fever dream,” Knubel said. “Getting to high-five everyone, being on TV and getting to meet everyone was honestly so amazing. And when the kick finally came and I missed the first attempt, I was absolutely crushed because I knew I could make it pretty easily.”

In a clutch move, a timeout was called, and Knubel was awarded another kick. This time, the prize money was $500,000, where he would split $250,000 with the ticket holder and the other $250,000 going to a local charity.

His high school kicking experience kicked in, and he scored big. Not only that, but Knubel became the second to win the challenge this year out of 10 challenges, and one of seven who have won since it began in 2023.

After a lot of thought (and a nap), Knubel, a finance major, told KSL.com that he plans on “wisely” spending his winnings.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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