Colorado University Athletics
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Roby and Palanova Named CU Athletes of the Week
January 31, 2006 | General, Men's Basketball, Skiing
BOULDER - True sophomore men's basketball stand out Richard Roby and freshman skier Lenka Palanova were named University of Colorado Athletes of the Week for the week of January 22-29. This is Roby's fifth CU Athlete of the Week honor of the last six awarded and Palanova's first such honor.
Roby, a San Bernardino, Calif. (Lawrence Academy) native, led the CU men to 2-0 record for the week averaging 24.0 points and 5.0 rebounds a game; leading the Buffaloes to their fifth-straight victory in Big 12 Conference play. The 6-6 guard scored a game-high 30 points in their win over Nebraska, 81-59, and a team-high 18 points in the 79-75 win over Kansas State. Roby has led the Buffaloes in scoring in five straight games averaging 25.8 points per game during that span. In the two wins last week, Roby also connected on .643 percentage from the field (18-of-28) and .583 percentage from beyond the 3-point arc (7-of-12). The Buffaloes (15-3, 5-2 Big 12) are off to their best start in conference play since starting 6-0 during the 1996-97 season. Roby and the rest of the No.25 (ESPN/USA Today) ranked men's basketball team (15-3, 5-2) will be in action again this Saturday when they travel to Aimes, Iowa to take on Big 12 rival Iowa State (13-7, 3-4), the game will be broadcast on Altitude Sports at 12:00 p.m. MST.
Palanova, a Harrachov, Czech Republic (Vablonec Nad Nisov) native, won her second race of the season with ease, capturing the women's 15-kilometer freestyle in the CU Invitational at Steamboat Springs. She skied the three laps around the Howelsen Hill Nordic course in 49:21.7, besting senior teammate Jana Rehemaa (50:04.0) by almost 43 seconds, the largest margin of victory on the women's side in 2006, also the second widest win including men's competition. Palanova won the 10k freestyle in Montana State's meet two weeks ago. In the meet's other race, the 5-kilometer classical, she finished fourth. Both efforts have helped CU to a big team lead at the midway point of the meet.
Others nominated for this week's award were: Erling Christiansen (men's skiing), Franziska Jendrian (women's tennis) and Jackie McFarland (women's basketball).
Men's Skiing: Erling Christiansen, Senior, Oslo, Norway
Christiansen finished third by a hair in the 20-kiolometer freestyle race in the CU Invitational at Steamboat, the longest race of the season. New Mexico's Dirk Grimm won in a 58:10.1 time, edging Alaska's Kjetil Dammen (58:10.7), who in turn eked out second in a photo finish over Christiansen by one-tenth of a second as he finished in 58:10.8. Christiansen led most of the race, despite not being 100 percent as he has battled sickness for the first three meets this winter and is on antibiotics. He finished ninth in the 10k classical the previous day.
Women's Tennis: Franziska Jendrian, Freshman, Rodleben, Germany
Jendrian, for the second time in as many weeks, recorded her second career-clinching match helping the Colorado women's tennis team to a 4-3 upset win over No. 37 Alabama. Jendrian also clinched the team victory at No. 6 singles in the win over No. 52 Denver on Jan. 20. Against the Crimson Tide and with the team score knotted at three, Jendrian took her opening set 6-1, then held on for a 7-6 (7-4) tiebreaker victory. After her opponent (Sofie Ayala) broke Jendrian's serve to make it 6-5 in the set, the CU freshman broke back, pushing the match into the tiebreaker. From there, Jendrian took matters in her own hands jumping out to a 5-1 lead and subsequently winning 7-4 for the final tally. The CU women are 3-1 and have defeated a pair of nationally ranked schools on the young season. Jendrian improves to 4-0 in singles play.
Women's Basketball: Jackie McFarland, Sophomore, Derby, Kan.
McFarland, in two hard fought losing efforts this past week, averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 36.5 minutes of playing time per game. In a 55-46 defensive struggle against Texas A&M, McFarland contributed 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 39.0 minutes of playing time. She also added two assists and three blocked shots. In an effort against Nebraska, McFarland led all CU scorers with 19 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.