EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – UW-Eau Claire men's cross country runner Ryan Mugan (So.-Howards Grove, Wis.) and volleyball player Kelly Schuh (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./Hortonville) have been named Athletes of the Month for September 2013, an honor sponsored by the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the UW-Eau Claire ROTC.
The award was presented Thursday (Oct. 17) by Brad Frahm, UW-Eau Claire Assistant Professor of Military Science, at the practices of both student-athletes. Each month during the 2013-14 season, two Blugold athletes – one male, one female – will be selected Athletes of the Month. The recipients are selected by the UW-Eau Claire Student-Athlete Advisory Committee from a pool of the Athletes of the Week.
During the month of September, Mugan was selected as his team's Athlete of the Week twice.
Sept. 9-15: Mugan led the Blugolds to a second place finish at the UW-River Falls Falcon Invitational on Saturday. He finished the race in second place overall out of 95 runners with a personal-best 8,000-meter time of 25:15.2.
Sept. 23-29: Mugan led the Blugolds to a first place finish out of 26 teams at the Maroon Division III race at the University of Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday. It was the first time in history the Blugolds won the meet. Mugan placed seventh overall with a time of 26:09.03 on the 8,000-meter course.
Schuh received Athlete of the Week honors for volleyball twice while also being named the WIAC Athlete of the Week once (Sept. 10).
Sept. 2-8: Competing in five matches this week, Schuh led the Blugolds in kills all five times as she reached double figures each time as the Blugolds went 2-3 on the week. For the week, she finished with 71 kills and a hitting percentage of .241. Her largest kill total and best hitting percentage came against No. 1-ranked University of St. Thomas (Minn.) on Friday, recording 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .364. She also had 11 service aces, seven blocks assists and five set assists this week. Playing in four matches at the Augsburg College Invitational this weekend, she was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Sept. 9-15: This weekend at the Carthage College Tournament, Schuh helped the Blugolds to a 3-1 record, with one win coming against a ranked opponent while the one loss also came against a ranked opponent. Schuh led the Blugolds in kills in all four matches and had her highest total come against Dominican University (Ill.), recording 17 to help the Blugolds to a 3-1 victory. She also had 16 against Illinois Wesleyan as the Blugolds won 3-1 while she had 11 against 20th-ranked Carthage in a 3-0 victory. Facing 13th-ranked University of Chicago (Ill.), she had nine kills but the Blugolds fell short 3-0. For the week, she finished with 53 kills and a hitting percentage of .254, along with seven service aces, 48 digs and two block assists.
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