Colorado University Athletics
Spiker On Fire, Two XC Champs Earn Athlete of the Week
October 07, 2015 | Cross Country
BOULDER -- Volleyball's Alexis Austin was on fire leading the Buffs to two road wins and cross country's Erin Clark and Pierce Murphy both won the Rocky Mountain Shootout to earn CU Athlete of the Week honors.
Austin led the Buffs to a sweep of No. 22 Oregon and Oregon State last weekend, hammering down 22 kills in a five-set, come-from-behind win against the Ducks on Friday while hitting .283 with a career high 60 attacks. She also posted five blocks and was one dig shy of a double-double with nine digs in the win.
Against Oregon State two days later, Austin hit .433 with 14 kills and only one error on 30 attacks. For the weekend, she averaged an amazing 4.50 kills per set while hitting .333. Austin also added 2.00 digs and 1.50 blocks per set for 3.19 points per set.
Clark, a junior, won the 5.8-kilometer race on Saturday at the 30th Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout in 20:13, the sixth fastest time in Buffalo Ranch history and second fastest for the Rocky Mountain Shootout. It was the fastest time since 2009 when former Buff and Olympian Jenny Simpson set the course record at 19:25. Clark led the women's team to a perfect score (15 points) to win the meet in the Division I section.
The four times between Clark and Barringer were all set in 2000 when CU hosted the Big 12 Cross Country Championships. Clark helped the second-ranked women finish with a perfect score (15) to win the Division I women's title.
Murphy, a senior, won his first Rocky Mountain Shootout Saturday in a time of 24:26. Ironically, he was one second faster last year (24:25) and he now has the fourth and fifth fastest times in course history. He helped the top-ranked CU men win the Division I team title, as the squad also scored 15 points.
Also nominated for this week's honors: Jeremy Paul, Jr. (golf) and Tedric Thompson (football).
Paul finished third in CU's Mark Simpson Invitational with a 67-75-68—210 scorecard (even par) at Boulder Country Club, helping to rally he Buffs to the co-title with Missouri-Kansas City. He chipped in for a birdie on No. 18 to pull the Buffs even with the Kangaroos, as he made the chip from about 10 yards in front of the green with a 58 degree wedge. He finished third individually, his 12th career top 10 finish, tying CU assistant coach Patrick Grady for eighth on that chart.
Thompson recorded 12 tackles (nine solo), including a tackle for a loss, another for no gain with a fourth down stop in seeing action for 76 snaps from scrimmage. The latter happened late in the third quarter and set CU up with a short field that led to a touchdown which narrowed the Oregon lead to 31-24 at the time.
