The Southern Conference announced today the Athletes of the Month for January. One athlete is chosen from each in-season sport: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and wrestling.

Men’s Basketball

Appalachian State’s D.J. Thompson and UNC Greensboro’s Kyle Hines were named co-players of the month for January. Thompson averaged 19.4 points per game over the course of the month, while also accumulating 4.1 rpg, 4.3 apg and 2.3 spg. The junior guard from Raleigh, NC, matriculated 20 or more points in four of Appalachian’s nine games on the month and recorded a career-high 33 points against Georgia Southern. Hines amassed 21.1 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per outing in the Spartans’ nine games over the course of January. The sophomore forward from Sicklerville, NJ, shot almost 70 percent (69.2) from the field in the month.

Elon’s Kitara McMoore earned her second women’s basketball Player of the Month nod in January after garnering her first for the month of November. In January, McMoore averaged league-highs of 15.5 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. The sophomore from Virginia Beach, VA, recorded six double-doubles in January and tallied a career-high 31 points and 16 rebounds in a win at Western Carolina on January 2. McMoore also set career marks for field goals made (12), free throws made (7) and minutes played (35) in the contest.

Appalachian sophomore Mark Sturgis solidified his second straight Athlete of the Month honor with a second place finish in the triple jump at the Niswonger Invite at East Tennessee State University. The jump of 50’8.25 was just five millimeters short of an NCAA provisional mark and currently ranks fifth on Appalachian State’s all-time list and leads the SoCon.

Women’s Indoor Track and Field

Chattanooga’s Shannon Wommack won the 3,000 meters at the Rod McCravy Invitational held at the University of Kentucky last month. The graduate student and Conyers, GA, native ran an NCAA provisional time of 9:31.75 in leading the Mocs to the top three spots in the event. This is Wommack’s second Athlete of the Month honor for the 2005-06 school year, as she won the November 2005 accolade in cross country.

Chattanooga’s Matt Keller won his second consecutive wrestling Athlete of the Month accolade in January after acquiring the honor in December. Keller went undefeated in the month of January, wrestling at 133 pounds and ranking as high as No. 6 nationally in the month. Keller, a junior from McDonald, TN, registered three pins and three major decisions in his 10 victories in January. One of the 10 wins included a victory over Wisconsin’s No. 1 ranked wrestler in Tom Clum in Chattanooga’s overall team win over No. 18 Wisconsin.