October Athletes of the Month Release

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Summit League has named Denver men’s soccer player Oliver Brown (Louisville, Ky.) as its Male Athlete of the Month and Denver women’s swimmer Bridgette McNally (Lone Tree, Colo.) as the Female Athlete of the Month for October.

Brown garners his first career Athlete of the Month award after setting two Division I school records en route to Denver extending its unbeaten streak to 11 games and a 5-0-1 record last month.  The junior goalkeeper opened October with his first-of-five shutouts during the month, picking up a 5-0 victory over Fort Wayne.  On Oct. 7, Brown gave up his lone goal of the month in a 1-1 tie to Oakland.  Then after earning shutouts over IUPUI (4-0), Loyola (2-0) and Omaha (1-0), the Louisville, Ky., native blanked Eastern Illinois, 2-0 to set a DI school record for consecutive scoreless minutes (408) and tie the school record with four-straight shutouts.  In the Oct. 19 win vs. Omaha, he tied his season-high with five saves.  For the month, Brown recorded 14 saves with a .933 save percentage and a 0.17 goals against average.  In league play, the two-time Summit League Defensive Player of the Week was 4-0 and did not surrender a goal.
 
McNally earns her first career Athlete of the Month award after recording a pair of NCAA top-25 times that also rank in the top-three all-time in league history.  The Pioneers opened the season with a second-place team finish at the Denver Relays, where she was a part of four winning relay teams.  Oct. 19, the Lone Tree, Colo., native led Denver to a 181-119 victory over Colorado State with a trio of individual first-place finishes in the 200 free (1:52.84), 200 IM (2:05.01) and 500 free (5:02.09).  In back-to-back meets at Arizona State, she added five more individual event victories and one relay win.  In the non-scored meet on Oct. 25, she won the 50 back (29.61), 150 back (1:37.34) and was a member of the winning 500 free relay (4:56.02) squad.  McNally’s best performances came in the final meet of the month at Arizona State (Oct. 26) as she captured three individual crowns, the 400 IM, 500 free and 200 free.  In the 400 IM, she touched the wall in a league-best time of 4:19.40, ranking 15th in the NCAA and second all-time in league history, and won the 500 free in a league-leading 4:52.31, the 23rd-fastest time in the nation and the third-best all-time in league history.  The junior garnered Swimmer of the Week honors in consecutive weeks for her performances vs. Colorado State and Arizona State and leads the league in the 200 free, 500 free, 200 IM and 400 IM.

Also nominated for the Men’s Athlete of the Month: Miguel Lozano, IUPUI, cross country; Brett Kelly, North Dakota State, cross country; Mubarik Musa, South Dakota, cross country; Trent Lusignan, South Dakota State, cross country.

Also nominated for the Women’s Athlete of the Month: Emily Spencer, Fort Wayne, volleyball; Rachel Zajac, IUPUI, cross country; Lauren Miller, North Dakota State, soccer; Kendall Kritenbrink, South Dakota, volleyball; Ann Miller, Western Illinois, volleyball.