Morley, Mwei Named November RMAC Athletes of the Month
Colorado Springs, Colo. -- December 8, 2009 -- The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has instituted a new awards program to recognize outstanding performances by student-athletes throughout the league by honoring student-athletes each month. The league's sports information directors nominate the student-athletes that are selected by the league office. This month's award winners for November 2009 are Metro State's Bri Morley and Adams State's Reuben Mwei.
Mwei claimed the NCAA Division II Individual National Championship on Nov. 21 as he finished the 10-kilometer course at the University of Southern Indiana in a time of 30:27.8 seconds. In the process, Mwei led the Grizzly men to a second straight and dominant team title win as all seven Grizzlies earned USTFCCCA All-America honors while the team's top five runners all placed in the top 11 overall finishers and amongst the top eight team scorers. The Grizzlies scored just 23 points, the lowest score at any NCAA Division I, II or III National Championship since the 1992 ASC team "perfect score." Mwei, who was named as the USTFCCCA's National Athlete of the Year, is the first Grizzly (male or female) since 2003 to win an individual national title in cross country. Earlier in the month, Mwei was named as the USTFCCCA's Central Regional Athlete of the Year after he and teammates Brian Medigovich and Aaron Braun crossed the finish line together in a 1-2-3 Grizzly sweep at the regional championships in Wayne, Neb. Led by Mwei, the Grizzlies were ranked first in the USTFCCCA Central Regional and National Rankings throughout the year. They were undefeated by NCAA Division II opponents and even defeated eventual Division I National Champion Oklahoma State on the Cowboys' home course at the Cowboy Jamboree in October.
Morley had an extremely impressive month, carrying the Metro State volleyball team to its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and the RMAC Tournament championships. The Roadrunners, behind Morley's offensive dominance, advanced further at the NCAA Tournament than any other team in school history, finishing as runners-up at the Central Region Tournament to top-ranked and eventual national champion, Concordia-St. Paul. Morley also garnered several honors, including AVCA National Player of the Week, RMAC Tournament MVP, first team All-RMAC, first team Daktronics all-region and first team AVCA all-region. During the month of November, Morley averaged 3.60 kills, totaling 126 in 35 sets, with 91 digs, seven aces and 10 blocks. In the RMAC championship match at No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney, Morley had 20 kills, leading Metro State to its first win in Kearney since 2002.
Other Top Men's Performers
Name School Sport
Charlie Alexander, Western State Wrestling
Mike Dominguez, Mesa State Basketball
Rustin Dring, Nebraska-Kearney Football
Steven Emory, Metro State Soccer
Jordan McClung, UC-Colorado Springs Basketball
Stefan Mirabal, Western N.M. Basketball
Matt Rosinski, Regis
Tom Settle, Fort Lewis Soccer
Aaron Swift, Colorado Mines Cross Country
Other Top Women's Performers
Name School Sport
Tess Andrews, Mesa State Volleyball
Vera Jo Bustos, Adams State Basketball
Hayey Hollenga, Fort Lewis Soccer
Sydney Laws, Colorado Mines Cross Country
Mallory Lowe, UC-Colorado Springs Basketball
Tae'lor Purdy, Regis
Nikki Scott, Nebraska-Kearney Volleyball
Ashley Vigil, Western N.M. Basketball
