Colorado University Athletics
Quartet Picks Up CU Athlete of the Week Honors
October 07, 2014 | Cross Country, General, Men's Golf, Tennis, Volleyball
BOULDER-- The University of Colorado junior Alexis Austin (volleyball), senior Julyette Steur (tennis), senior Blake Theroux (cross country) and senior David Oraee (men's golf) earned CU Co-Athlete of the Week honors Tuesday for their play during the week of September 29-October 5.
Austin helped the Buffs to a 1-1 weekend, which included a three-set upset of No. 14 Arizona and a narrow loss to No. 17 Arizona State. She averaged 4.62 kills per set while attacking at a team-best .450 with just 10 errors on 60 attacks. She also added 1.12 blocks per set, which was second on the team. In the loss against ASU, she recorded 22 kills and hit .361. She added five digs and four blocks. She tallied 15 kills in the sweep of UA and hit .583 with only one error on 24 swings. She also had five blocks and two digs.
Steur upset the No. 24 nationally ranked player, Yana Koroleva of Florida International, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in her qualifying singles round at the 2014 Rivera/ITA All-American Championships last Tuesday in Los Angeles. It was her highest win over a nationally ranked opponent of her CU career. The victory comes on the heels of her Gold Singles championship where she won three matches in three days at the CU Invitational. She defeated the number four seed Koroleva, who graduated from Clemson last May. Koroleva, who played No. 1 singles with the Tigers, posted a 55-18 record, including a 19-6 record as a senior. Koroleva was a two-time All-ACC honoree and an All-American during her junior season. She won her 47th career match and for the fifth time in her career, rallied back to win a singles match after falling in the first set. It's also the first time that she has won her first four matches to begin any fall season. Later in the day, she fell to No. 77 ranked Sarah Lee of Michigan, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Theroux won the 29th Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout on Saturday morning and became the first back-to-back champion at the meet in over 10 years. Jorge Torres, a former Buff, was the last one to do so and won three straight meets (2000-02). He also holds the course record at 24:07. His time of 24:23.1 is quite impressive and is the third fastest time run at the course. Last season he recorded a time of 25:34 in less than perfect conditions as the course last year was wet and muddy. His personal best on the course had been 25:01, which he ran in 2012 for a second place finish.
Oraee claimed medalist honors in leading CU to the team title in the 5th Annual Mark Simpson-CU Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. He posted the best 36-hole score in school history in winning with a 13-under par, 64-67:131 scorecard. He mastered CU's home course, a 7,771-yard, par-72 layout, as over the two rounds, he recorded an eagle and 14 birdies with 18 pars and just three bogeys en route to his first collegiate victory. He led the 91-man field in par-4 scoring (playing the 20 such holes at 5-under), and tied for the lead on both the par-3s (2-under) and par-5s (6-under) as well. His 14 birdies were three more than any other competitor.
This was the first award of the season for all athletes except Steur, who has now been honored twice this season.
Also nominated for this week's honor: Madison Krauser (soccer) and Tyler McCulloch (football).
Krauser, junior, helped the University of Colorado women's soccer team upset No. 23 USC 1-0 on Friday in Los Angeles with her game-winning goal in the fifth minute. In just her second game back after a knee injury sidelined her for seven matches she received a pass from goalkeeper Kate Scheele on the counter attack and chipped the ball from 30 yards out sending it into the top right corner of the net. It was her first goal of the season and second game-winner of her career, helping CU secure its first Pac-12 Conference victory in 2014. She also led the Buffs with two of the team's five shots in the contest.
McCulloch, senior, caught four passes for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns in CU's 36-31 loss to Oregon State. It was the first multi-touchdown game of his career.
