Colorado University Athletics
Ormeno Ruiz, Clark, Simpson, Murphy Earn Athlete of the Week
October 20, 2015 | Tennis
BOULDER - CU women athletes dominated in their sports this week making Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (tennis), Erin Clark (cross country), and Cierra Simpson (volleyball) the female athletes of the week and Pierce Murphy (cross country) takes the honors for the men.
Ormeno Ruiz claimed the Buffs first singles championship at the USTA/ITA Mountain Regional after winning seven matches. She defeated Denver's Julia O'Loughlin by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match in Las Vegas on Sunday. Ruiz improved her record to 10-0 this fall, the best start in CU coach Nicole Kenneally's 17-year career at CU and believed to be the best since Kathleen Cummings started the 1980-81 season 22-0.
The championship match was just the third of her 10 wins in three sets and she's now come back twice to win after losing the first set. She is 20-3 in sets this season and 130-71 in games. She earned her 48th career singles win to move into a tie for 33rd place all-time at CU. She also received an automatic bid to the USTA Indoor Championships, held in New York City next month.
Clark won the NCAA Cross Country Pre-National Invitational on Saturday afternoon, clocking in at 20:00.5. She is the first Buff since Jenny Barringer (2009) to win pre-nationals and is undefeated this season. Clark helped the second-ranked Buffs to a second place team finish at the meet. CU recorded a score of 151 and Michigan won with 131 points.
Simpson averaged 5.88 digs per set to lead the Buffs defensively. Over the weekend, Simpson broke CU's rally scoring era career digs record, which had been 1,170 (Nicole Carr, 2002-05); she currently has 1,195. Simpson tied her career-high with 31 digs against Cal to become just the third Buff ever to record two or more matches with 30 or more digs (Callie Webster and Rachel Wacholder are the other two).
Simpson also picked up 16 digs in the four-set upset of No. 6 Stanford, which was CU's first ever win against the Cardinal. She was a strong performer for the Buffs serve-receive and did not commit a single reception error on 47 receptions during two matches.
Senior Murphy, taking the win for male athlete of the week, recorded a fifth-place finish at NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday, leading the top-rated men to the team title. Murphy finished the 8k race in 23:24.4, just six seconds behind the first place finisher. CU's men defeated No. 3 Oregon 91-151 for their fifth straight pre-nationals team title.
Also nominated for this week's honors are Jeremy Paul Jr. (golf) and Shay Fields (football).
Paul helped Colorado to a 10th place finish in Cal's Mackenzie Invitational, turning in a 68-74-67—209 scorecard (4-under) on the 6,734-yard, par-71 Meadow Club course design. In tying for 26th, he recorded the fifth-most birdies in the meet (16) and set a school record his final round 67 was his 41st subpar round of his career (out of 86); that broke a tie with David Oraee, who completed his Buff tenure with 40 last May. Paul's subpar round percentage of 47.7 is easily 10 points better than any other previous golfer in CU annals. He has 45 par- or better rounds, seven shy of Kane Webber's record of 52 he set from 2000-04.
Wide receiver Fields had career highs of 8 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns, covering 72 and 30 yards. In addition, he earned five first downs in CU's 38-31 loss to Arizona.
