Senior cross country runner Robert Murphy has been named IUPUI's Male Athlete of the Month for September 2016 for his achievements during the season's first month. The Warsaw, Ind.-native was a three-time Summit League Athlete of the Week to start the year and won two of his first three competitions.
Murphy opened the season by winning the Butler Opener with a 6K time of 18:22.3, helping IUPUI edge Butler for the team title.
Two weeks later, he was runner-up at the Indiana Intercollegiates, running an 8K time of 25:36.04 on a wet, sloppy course. He capped the month with a win in the Gold Race of the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, beating his closest competition in the 5-mile race by 13 seconds.
He helped IUPUI finish third of 24 teams, despite missing of the team's key runners.