Skiers Earn Athlete of Week Honors After NCAA Championship Performances

BOULDER -- The University of Colorado's ski team placed second overall in the 2016 NCAA
Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colo. After their strong performances, Mads
Stroem and Nora Christensen earn this week's Athlete of the Week honors. Stroem
swept the competition, earning two individual national championship titles in the
men's 10K freestyle and 20K classical. Christensen was an injury replacement for
Jessica Honkonen and placed fifth in the women's slalom.

Stroem's two individual wins in Steamboat Springs puts him at a total of three
overall individual championship titles. He clocked 22:06.8 in the 10K freestyle and
49:41.9 in the 20K classical. Stroem now has eight first place finishes for this season.

Freshman Christensen's fifth place was her first career top 10 finish. She skied a
two-run time of 1:31.24 and earned first-team All-American honors.

Also nominated for this week's honors: Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (Tennis), Brittany Fan
(Women's Golf), Erin Clark (women's track and field), and Pierce Murphy (men's
track and field).

Ormeño Ruiz led Colorado to its first Pac-12 win of the season, upsetting No. 59
Arizona 4-3 on Sunday at home. She knocked off 27th-ranked Lauren Marker in
three sets to lead the Buffaloes to the win. The junior fell 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to No. 23
Desirae Krawczyk from Arizona State.

Sophomore Fan of the women's golf team shot a team-best 72-70—142 or 2-under
par last week at the Bay Area Intercollegiate (Fairfax, Calif.), helping the Buffs finish
second overall. Fan earned a career-best third place finish, posting her first career
top five finish. She recorded 22 pars and 8 birdies over the 36-hole event.

Clark placed fifth overall in the women's 3,000-meter run at her first NCAA Indoor
Track and Field Championships on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala., earning first
team All-America honors. Clark was ninth after the first kilometer, running 3:02.23,
and moved up to sixth by the 2K mark (6:07.49). With one lap left, Clark was fourth,
but North Dakota State's Erin Teschuk passed her, finishing the race in 9:08.45,
while Clark settled for fifth (9:08.63).

Senior Murphy took home a pair of first team All-America honors from the 2016
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend. He started the weekend
off by placing third in the 5,000-meter run, finishing in 13:52.22. Midway through
the 5K, Murphy was sixth. He ran a steady and controlled race and was able to edge
out Northern Arizona's Futsum Zienasellassie (13:52.26) at the finish line.

Less than 24 hours later, Murphy hit the track again, this time in the 3,000. This time
he placed fifth overall, running a time of 8:02.40. Murphy was fifth at the 2K point
(2:50.71), but dropped down to eighth as he entered the bell lap (7:34.03) before
moving back into fifth position at the very end of the race, closing the final lap in
28.37 seconds.

Murphy is now a seven-time All-American, three indoors, three cross country and
one outdoors.