AMHERST, N.Y. - Men's cross country runner Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Buffalo State College) and women's tennis player Maria McGrath (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) have been named the Bedore Tours Student-Athletes of the Month for October.
Rushok, a 6-foot junior in his second season competing for the Wildcats after transferring from Buffalo State, has been Daemen's top finisher in four of the team's five races this season. Â That includes both the Wildcats' outings last month when Rushok paced the squad at the Geneseo Invitational on Oct. 4 and again at the Inter-Regional Rumble on Oct. 18.
Rushok ran his best time of the season at the 8K distance in the month-opening Geneseo Invitational held at Letchworth State Park. Â He finished in 82nd place overall, out of 289 total entrants, with a time of 26:47.1 - his first and only sub-27-minute race of the season. Â Rushok followed that up by running the Inter-Regional Rumble in 28:10.0 which was good for 39th place, out of 208 total participants.
McGrath, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, went 3-0 in singles matches and an even 3-3 in doubles competition last month, helping the Wildcats to a pair of wins, giving them five overall which matches the team record for wins in the fall season.
McGrath opened the month with a pair of default wins at the University of the District of Columbia on Oct. 3. Â She was a double-point winner at the University of the Sciences on Oct. 5 as well, downing the Devils' Sara Skoritowski at No. 6 singles (6-1, 6-3) before teaming with Sarah Crissy (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore East) for an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles.
She later added another singles victory, this one a three-set thriller (6-0, 5-7, 1-0) over Emily Hart of Fairmont State University on Oct. 11. Â Her final doubles win of the month came in Daemen's 6-3 non-conference win over Thiel University on Oct. 19, teaming with Aman Shamaa (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) to get the job done at No. 2 doubles, 8-2.
