BOULDER-Cross country runners Carrie Verdon and Jake Hurysz earned CU Athlete of the Week honors on Tuesday for
their athletic performances during the week Sept. 24-30. CU's Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Silk®,
Horizon® and International Delight®.
Freshman Carrie Verdon led the way for the Buffs with a
third-place finish in the women's 5.8 kilometer race on Saturday morning at the
27th Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout at the Buffalo Ranch Cross Country Course. The Moraga, Calif., (Campolindo) native helped
the Buffs win the Division I women's title with 19 points, besting second-place
Wyoming's total of 58.
"That was a very
nice run for Carrie," said coach Mark Wetmore of Verdon's 21:03 time. "Patient, closing, hard, that's among the
top freshmen time ever here; particularly for a day that's getting a little
warm."
Junior Jake Hurysz made his CU cross country
debut by winning the 8-kilometer men's race of the Rocky Mountain Shootout in
24 minutes and 34 seconds. It was the fourth
fastest men's time to ever be recorded at Buffalo Ranch behind record holder
Jorge Torres (24:07, 2002) and Adam Goucher (24:12, 1998; 24:30, 1997).
Hurysz started the race with the lead and never
let it go as he finished nearly half a minute in front of the next closest
runners. His teammates, Blake Theroux
and Martin Medina, were second and third, respectively, with the same time of
25:01. CU won the Division I team title
with a perfect score of 15.
"It was
fun," Hurysz said after the race. "I
got to put the jersey on for the first time and it felt good to come out here
and get a win and give a good effort."
This was the Mebane,
N.C., (Eastern Alamance/North Carolina) native's first official race for the
seventh-ranked Buffs after transferring to CU from North Carolina last January. After redshirting the track season, Hurysz
previously competed unattached at the time trial four weeks ago and finished
fourth with a time of 26:14.
Also nominated for this
week's award: Nikki
Lindow (volleyball), Ashley Tiefel (women's tennis), Jake Burstyn (men's golf) and David Oraee (men's golf).
Nikki Lindow recorded
15 kills and 11 blocks over the weekend in the volleyball team's two matches. She had 10 kills and four blocks in a four-set
loss to Oregon State and also had five kills and seven blocks against No. 2
Oregon. The junior middle blocker
averaged 1.57 blocks per set and 2.14 kills per set while attacking at a
team-best .258.
Ashley Tiefel
advanced to the finals of the Singles Flight 4, winning two matches at the
five-team Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, the first fall tournament for
women's tennis in 2012. Tiefel defeated
Indiana's Gabrielle Rubenstein, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(5) in the opening round and then
edged Claudia Escribens of Purdue in the semifinals, 6-3, 0-6, 1-0(7). Tiefel lost in the finals to Purdue's Tess
Bernard-Feigenbaum, 6-4, 6-1. The
sophomore was the only CU player to claim victory on the singles court on
Friday and Saturday for the Buffs. She
is 4-2 over the last two years in fall singles play and improved her three-set
record to 2-0 over her career.
Senior Jason Burstyn and sophomore David Oraee
both tied for seventh individually and helped the men's golf team to a
runner-up finish at the 58th Annual New Mexico Tucker Invitational
last week. It was just the third time Colorado finished second in the
tournament. In the first round, Burstyn shot a 68 and Oraee a 69, but
both carded 73's in the second round. Oraee
finished with a 75 and Burstyn a 76 in the third round, and both ended with a
1-over par 217 total.
Watch:
