Nichols, Herrera and Battey Named CU Athletes of the Week Presented By Arrow
BOULDER -- Last week saw both the CU men's and women's cross country teams earn NCAA Championship bids while men's basketball got off to an electric start. These performances earned cross country runners Abby Nichols and Eduardo Herrera as well as men's basketball's Evan Battey the honor of CU Athletes of the Week presented by Arrow.
The third-ranked Colorado women's cross country team finished as a runner-up at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. They were led by Nichols who placed third overall in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 20:22.5. She moved up well in the race as she was 14th at the1k split and sixth at the midway point before she defeated New Mexico's Gracelyn Larkin by less than one second (20:22.6). The team finished 62-83 behind No. 2 New Mexico 62-83. The women's team has automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.
The second-ranked Colorado men's cross country team finished in third-place at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. They were led by Herrera who placed fifth overall in the 10-kilometer race with a time of 29:46.5. He defeated sixth-place finisher Abdihamid Nur from Northern Arizona by almost three seconds (29:49.3). This is the fourth time in as many races that Herrera has led the Buffs this season. The team finished behind No.1 Northern Arizona (42) and No. 8 BYU (57) with 83 points. The men's team has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.
Men's basketball opened the season with a 2-0 start for the sixth straight season after defeating Montana State 94-90 in overtime on Nov. 9 and New Mexico 87-76 on Nov. 13, both at the CU Events Center. Battey averaged 16 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 81 percent (13-16) from the field. In the opener against Montana State he made all six field goals. This was a single-game career best for field goals made without a miss. Against New Mexico he hit both 3-point attempts, already matching his 3-point total from last season. It was just his second game with multiple 3-pointers, the other coming as a freshman at San Diego on Nov. 20, 2018 in his third career game.
The NCAA Championships for cross country will be this Saturday, November 20, in Tallahassee, Fla. After another victory at home over Maine on Monday, men's basketball will travel to the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands which will take place between Nov. 19-22.