Wainwright voted Athlete of the Week for Apr. 10, 2008

Sometimes, tennis falls under the radar in the world of collegiate athletics.  But when you play like Julie Wainwright did last week, everybody notices.

Wainwright, playing in her first action since mid-February, showed no cobwebs at all in her performance.  In a three-match pod at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Wainwright pummeled Colorado Christian's Elise McKamie 6-1, and 6-0, then followed it up with a win over Mesa State's Kate Lowder 6-1, 6-4. 

Then came her biggest challenge, Western New Mexico's Izelle Olivier, who nearly knocked Wainwright off her perch.  After winning the first set 6-4, Wainwright fell 7-5 in the second set, but came back to win in a doozy, taking the last set 7-5. 

In doubles play alongside partner Jamie Raun, she was 3-1 on the week, only losing to the sixth-ranked doubles combo in the region, Mesa State's Teri Mayeda and Kelsey Bottinelli.

For the week, Wainwright went 6-1 in both singles and doubles matches, upping her record to 7-3 overall in singles play.  Her only loss to a conference opponent, to Mesa State's Lowder in September, was avenged last week.

It is for that kind of dominance and consistency that the visitors to GoThunderWolves.com saw it fit to vote Wainwright the CSU-Pueblo Athlete of the Week for April 10, 2008.

A NEW ATHLETE OF THE WEEK POLL WILL BE POSTED EVERY MONDAY THROUGH THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!  TO VOTE, VISIT THE FRONT PAGE OF THE THUNDERWOLVES WEBSITE AT http://www.gothunderwolves.com/.

The final vote:

Nick Balentine, Baseball (.526 BA, 7 RBI, turned 9 DPs over six games)	2%
Ricardo Oaxaca, Men's Tennis (Earned three singles wins, two doubles wins in three matches)	5%
Dustin Timmins, Baseball (Threw a three-hitter in 9-2 win over CCU)	37%
Julie Wainwright, Women's Tennis (Earned three singles wins, two doubles wins in three matches)	54%