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.