Sanchez, Sturges and Abel earn KJCCC ‘Player of the Week’ honors
It was a great week in Butler athletics as three Grizzlies earned Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference 'Player of the Week' honors after their performances last week.
Michelle Sanchez, sophomore from Junction City, KS, earns the Grizzlies Cross Country team their first Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference 'Athlete of the Week' honors this season.
Sanchez set a new personal best in the 5000 Meter (5K) Saturday morning as she ran an 18:37.52 to finish runner-up at the Missouri Southern State University Stampede Saturday in Joplin, MO. Sanchez broke her old time by .45 seconds helping the Grizzlies to a 6th place finish at the meet. With the help of Michelle, the Grizzlies are currently ranked 12th in the country four weeks into the season.
Brock Sturges wins his second straight 'Offensive Player of the Week' honor after another big performance on the gridiron. Sturges, the freshman running back from Allen, TX, backed up last week's performance with another big offensive outing Saturday night against Dodge City. Sturges rushed for 143 yards on 18 carries with an average of 7.9 yards per rush and scored one touchdown on the ground with his longest rush totaling 48 yards. He had one reception on the night but it was a big one going for 50 yards and the score. Sturges had more all-purpose yards (193) than Dodge City had total offensive yards (185). Sturges still leads the NCJAA in rushing touchdowns with seven as well as total rushing yards at 605.
Jacob Abel, sophomore kicker from Goddard, KS, landed his first 'Player of the Week' honors of the season claiming the "Special Teams Player of the Week" honors. Abel was a perfect 5/5 in the kicking game Saturday night on a wet and windy evening in El Dorado, KS. Abel drilled a 32-yard FG in the third quarter giving Butler a 24-21 lead. He finished a perfect 4/4 on extra points scoring a total of seven points for the Grizzlies. Abel also had three punts in the game with an average of 30.3 yards per punt pinning one inside the 20.
This makes back-to-back weeks that the Grizzlies have landed both the offensive and special seams players of the week and puts the Grizzlies at five total players earning conference honors just five weeks into the season.