Colorado University Athletics
Burks, Pixler Earn CU Athlete of the Week Honor
March 31, 2011 | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Track and Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf
Burks, originally from Grandview, Mo. (Grandview) scored a game-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds and four steals, leading the Colorado men's basketball team to an 81-74 win over Kent State in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NIT. This marked the third win in a row for the Buffs in the NIT, earning them a trip to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The 6-foot-6 guard has scored 20 or more points in a game for the sixth consecutive time and tallied his fifth double-double of the season.
Pixler, originally from Sammamish, Wash. (Eastlake/Seattle Pacific), recorded the world's fastest time in the women's 5,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night. The 5-foot-6 distance runner completed the run in 15 minutes, 25.58 seconds, over seven seconds ahead of runner-up Jen Rhines (15:32.70). Prior to Pixler's record breaking race, the top time in the world was held by Brazil's Simone De Silva (15:27.69).
The mark is a personal best for Pixler. Her previous best was 15:44.07, which she set in 2010 as a member of the Seattle Pacific track and field team.
Also nominated for this week's honor: Luke Symons (men's golf), Joe Bosshard (track and field), Emily Talley (wom en's golf) and Brittany Spears (women's basketball).
Men's Golf: Luke Symons, Sr., Lone Tree, Colo.
Senior Luke Symons turned in CU's top performances in both the Oregon Duck Invitational and the Barona Collegiate Cup last week. In Oregon, he had a 71-72-75--218 (2-over par) effort, tying 23rd overall, with the Buffs finishing 11th in the tournament. At the Barona Cup, he tied for 11th with a 70-75-74--219 (3-over) performance. This marked Symons' second best major tournament finish of the season, along with his 13th career top 20 effort. In his final round, he had three birdies and 10 pars against five bogeys, and finished in the top 10 in the meet for par-4 (+3, ninth) and par-5 (-3, 10th) scoring. After the two meets, he took over the team lead in scoring average with a 74.24 mark.
Track and Field: Joe Bosshard, Crested Butte, Colo.
Sophomore Joe Bosshard ran the 11th fastest time in the NCAA Division I this season on Friday night at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 29:10.85. Bosshard won the section of the race just .04 seconds ahead of teammate Andy Wacker (29:10.89). Bosshard's time ranks second in the Big 12.
Women's Golf: Emily Talley, Jr., Napa, Calif.
Junior Emily Talley finished fourth individually (out of 93 competitors) and led the Buffs to a fourth place finish (out of 18 teams) at the Mountain View Collegiate tournament in Tucson, Ariz. over the weekend. Talley posted a 1-over par 73 in the first round of the tournament, and then had consecutive rounds of 1-under par 71 to finish at 1-under par 215 for the event. This marks the 11th time in CU history that a golfer has finished below par in a tournament, and the second time Talley has accomplished finishing below par. Her two consecutive rounds under par rank her fourth at CU for most consecutive rounds under par. This was her fifth top 5 finish in her collegiate career, which ties her for the most in CU history. Talley extended her school record of consecutive top 20 finishes to 14 straight events. This was also her seventh event scoring better than 220 over 54 holes, another CU record that she holds.
Women's Basketball: Brittany Spears, Sr., Pasadena, Calif.
Senior forward Brittany Spears led her team to a 2-1 record, while averaging 30.7 points and eight rebounds in her final week as a CU women's basketball player. She ended her career making a giant impact on CU's record book in many categories. Spears tied Erin Scholz's (1993-97) school record for most career starts with 127. Spears started every game of her career, and already set team marks for consecutive starts and starts to the beginning of a career. Spears extended her own school record with her 111th career game scoring in double digits. She has scored in double digits in 32 of 34 games this season, tying Jackie McFarland (2007-08) and Lisa Van Goor (1980-81) for the second best single season effort in the team's history. After finishing the week scoring 23 points at Wyoming, 36 against USC and 33 against Cal, Spears finished her career with 46 20-point efforts and four 30-point efforts. Spears finished the season with 652 points, second to Lisa Van Goor's 678 in 1981-82. Spears also finished second in scoring average (19.2 ppg), 3-point field goals (81), and overall field goals attempted (590), fourth in field goals made (239), eighth in minutes played (1,093) and 12th in rebounds (277).
