The Southern Conference announced today the Athletes of the Month for November. One athlete is chosen from each fall sport: football (offensive and defensive), men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling.

Chattanooga senior Ian Mayne placed 10th overall at the NCAA South Region meet to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Nationals in Terre Haute, IN.

Shannon Wommack was the only runner to finish the 6K event at the South Region championship in under 20 minutes en route to her south region championship and her third automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships. At the national championship, Wommack finished 19th overall to garner her second cross country All-America honor and her fourth All-American nod overall.

Georgia Southern quarterback Jayson Foster led the Eagles to a 2-1 record in November, including a win over then top-ranked Furman in Statesboro, GA. The sophomore compiled 390 rushing yards over the course of the month and passed for 286 through the air. Foster scored nine touchdowns (five rushing, four passing) in the three games.

Defense

Elon junior inside linebacker Chad Nkang was the stalwart for the Phoenix defense in November, amassing 28 tackles to average 14 tackles per contest over the last month of the regular season. In Elon’s game against Appalachian State in November, Nkang matriculated 18 total tackles for the second best single-game tally of his career. The marks left Nkang when the regular season closed topping the league and the nation in total tackles (152) and tackles per game (13.8). Nkang was declared a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award in November and was named first-team All-SoCon by the coaches and media. Nkang was also chosen as the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year by the media and the league’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year by the coaches.

Men’s Soccer

UNC Greensboro’s Randi Patterson became a two-time winner of the SoCon Player of the Year award in November and finished the month by tallying 13 points on five goals and three assists as the Spartans advanced to the third round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships. It was the second straight year that UNC Greensboro advanced to the third round.

Western Carolina’s Alesha Row acquired a record of 3-1 in November. The goalkeeper commandeered back-to-back shutouts in the SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship. The two shutout victories left Row with a school record 13 shutouts on the season and helped to solidify a month that saw the junior pick up a goals against average of 0.73, while making 20 saves for a save percentage of 87 percent. Row was also awarded the SoCon Women’s Championship Most Outstanding Player trophy after helping the Catamounts to their first ever SoCon crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Volleyball

Tiffany Blum carried a .399 hitting percentage throughout the month of November. The All-SoCon honoree secured 81 kills and 36 blocks in a month that saw her earn SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, as the College of Charleston advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s Golf

Wofford’s Drew Perry led the Terriers in their only tournament last month, finishing 12th at the WCU Intercollegiate Golf Championship after carding a five-over par three-round score of 147 for his best finish of the fall. The freshman finished the fall third on the squad with a stroke average of 73.82.

Women’s Golf

Brady Andersen of Western Carolina finished in sixth place overall at the Augusta State/Lady Jaguar Invitational after firing back-to-back rounds of 77 in the tournament. The top 10 finish was Andersen’s fourth of the fall season and helped Andersen continue to own the record as Western’s all-time leader in stroke average, with a career average of 77.06 over 90 rounds.

Women’s Basketball

Elon’s Kitara McMoore led the Phoenix to a 2-2 month in November, which included the Phoenix’s first 2-0 start since 1997-98. McMoore averaged 15.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game over the course of the month and was named to the All-Tournament team at the National City Xavier Invitational.

Men’s Basketball

D.J. Thompson averaged 25.2 points per game for the Mountaineers in November, including a 31-point outpouring against James Madison. Thompson kicked things off on the 2005-06 season by scoring more than 20 points in each of Appalachian’s first four games, becoming the first ASU player to accomplish the feat. Thompson shot 46-percent from beyond the arc in the month and averaged 4.8 assists and 2.5 steals per contest in the month.

Chattanooga’s Michael Keefe went undefeated in November in seven matches with a techinal fall and two major decisions. In the Mocs’ season-opening tournament at the ACC/SoCon Mat Jam to open the 2005-06 season, Keefe posted wins over Duke (13-5 major), North Carolina (5-4) and conference rival Appalachian State (17-6 tech fall). Keefe, who entered the season ranked as high as No. 5 nationally and ended things in November ranked No. 4 in his weight class, registered wins over Minnesota (10-5), Drexel (24-10 major) and Central Michigan (5-3) in the Northeast Duals.