Kyle and Marshall Named CU Athletes of the Week

BOULDER-Cross country runner Jordan Kyle (junior) and soccer's Nikki Marshall (junior), were named University of Colorado Athletes of the Week for the week of October 13-20.  This is the second Athlete of the Week honor for Kyle for both this season and his career.  This award now puts Marshall at a total of three honors this year and extends her record of six career, the most ever by a soccer player.

            Kyle, a Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern/Indiana) native was the top Big 12 performer at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in both the ?white' and ?blue' races.  Kyle crossed the finish line seventh overall in the ?white' race while the next Big 12 runner, Kiel Uhl of Iowa State finished 10th.  Kyle recorded a personal best finishing the 8k course in 23:39.9.  This is the second time in as many team scoring meets that Kyle has led the Buffs.  Kyle also was the top Buff at the Rocky Mountain Shootout at the end of Sept.

            Marshall, a Mead, Colo. (Skyline) native, led the No. 15 ranked Buffs in come from behind fashion beating Nebraska 2-1.  Marshall tallied both goals for CU.  Her first goal in the 54th minute of the match moved Marshall into sole-possession of first place on top of CU's all-time goals scored list (33).   Marshall's second goal of the game came with under five minuets left to play.  Her game winning goal against Nebraska was her fourth game-winner of the season.  Marshall leads all Big 12 players with 76 shots on the season and averages a league-high 4.75 a game.

Others nominated for this week's award were Melisa Esposito (tennis), Alex Buth (volleyball), Derek Tolan (golf) and Nate Solder (football).

Tennis:  Melisa Esposito, Junior, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Esposito capped off five consecutive victories to win the consolation singles bracket at the five-day Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region hosted by the University of Utah.  Esposito opened the main draw singles with a loss, however stormed back in the consolation round recording four of her final five wins in straight sets.  In the finals Esposito met and defeated fellow CU teammate Franziska Jendrian, 6-1, 7-6 (2).  It's the second time the two teammates have ever played against each other in a fall tournament over the last three years.  Last September, Esposito defeated Jendrian, 6-1, 6-2 at the CU invitational.  Esposito's win in the finals was her 50th career singles victory becoming only the 28th woman to win that many singles matcher in a career.

Volleyball:  Alex Buth, Senior, East Grand Rapids, Mich.

Buth helped the Buffs to a 1-1 week with a loss against Oklahoma and a win against Iowa State.  Buth led the Buffs in both matches with 11 kills at OU and 17 against ISU.  She recorded her 21st career double-double and her fifth of the season against ISU with 15 digs.  She averaged 2.75 dps.  Buth also put up eight block assists in the win against ISU, which was 1.00 bps.  She recorded two reception errors after receiving 37 serves fro a .946. Her other averages for the week included 0.75 assists/set; 0.12 saps and 4.12 pps.

Golf:  Derek Tolan, Senior, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Tolan continued his excellent play, tying for 11th in The Prestige At PGA West after closing with a par round on the 7,152-yard, par-72 Greg Norman Course at PGA West.  It was his fifth top 20 finish in as many tournaments this fall (all in the top 13), with two wins and a runner-up.  He recorded a 74-74-72?220 scorecard for 54 holes (4-over), helping CU to an 11th place finish in the meet.  He has a 70.93 stroke average for 15 rounds on the fall, is ranked as the No. 29 player in the nation, and now has 20 top 20 career finishes at Colorado, making Tolan just the eighth Buffalo to record that many for a career; he's tied for fourth with 15 top 10 efforts.

Football:  Nate Solder, Sophmore, Buena Vista, Colo.

Solder had his best game to date at offensive tackle, a position he did not ever play before last spring ball.  In grading out to 99 percent in CU's 14-13 win over Kansas State, the best linemen grade at Colorado since All-America guard Joe Garten was perfect against Kansas State in the 1990 regular season finale.  He played all 82 snaps against K-State, and posted a season-high 11 knockdown blocks.