MOSCOW, Idaho – Hayden Hatten of football and Becca Owen of volleyball have been named this week's Vandals of the Week for their outstanding work in the classroom.



Hatten is a sophomore on the football team and is majoring in Business Marketing. He currently has a 3.79 cumulative GPA while leading the Vandals in receptions on the field, earning First Team All-Big Sky honors.

"My mom and my dad are both in sales…The plan is for my brother and I to feed into the family businesses," said Hatten.

Owen, a junior on the volleyball team, is studying Business Economics.

"As an econ major you really study the markets and different policies that go along with it and how to apply that in the real world… I'm super interested in management consulting," said Owen.

Both student-athletes highlighted the skills they use in both athletics and the classroom.

"Athletics and academics go hand-in-hand with each other… Every time I step on the football field, I go 100 percent and try as hard as I can and every time, I get an assignment for school I'm going to try as hard as I can," said Hatten.

"So much has helped me being an athlete in the classroom – time management, definitely. I think preparing for a test or quizzes has helped because in sports you have to practice for the games," said Owen.

Both Hatten and Owen were very proud to be recognized for their performance in the classroom.

"My whole life I've excelled in academics, but you don't really get recognized for it," said Hatten.

"I think it really goes to show how much at Idaho we emphasize the whole picture and not just the on the court success… Being recognized for things other than volleyball… is super important because at the end of the day sports will end at some point and you have to be prepared for that," said Owen.