Three earn UAA Athlete of the Week honors, Sept. 20

TEXT: UAA Athletes of the Week, Matthew Driben, Men's Cross Country; Erin Magill, Women's Cross Country; Jeffrey Chen, Men's Tennis
IMAGES: Driben, Magill and Chen pose for the camera

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Three Brandeis University student-athletes - two from the cross country teams and one from men's tennis - have been selected as the University Athletic Association Athletes of the Week for the week ending September 19th. 

From the cross country team, seniors Erin Magill of South Duxbury, Vermont, of the women's team, and Matthew Driben of Reading, Pennsylvania, of the men's squad, were both honored for their performances at the 2021 UMass Dartmouth Invitational. 

Magill led the 29th-ranked Judges to second place with 83 points. She was fourth overall out of 234 runners with a time 17:52.0. Magill took nearly a full minute off her career-best time for a five-kilometer course, finishing 13 seconds behind the winner from Wellesley.

Driben helped the Brandeis men to a 10th-place finish with 344 points. He covered the five-mile course in 25:04.20 to finish in 16th place out of 256 runners. It was one position better than his previous showing at UMass Dartmouth and 49 seconds faster than his previous time on this course.

This is the first UAA Athlete of the Week honor for both cross country runners. The Judges will be back in action on October 2 at the Keene State Invitational.

Magill is a 2018 graduate of Harwood Union High School. Driben is a 2018 graduate of Wyomissing High School.

Senior Jeffrey Chen of Northfield, Illinois, and the men's tennis team opened their 2021-22 season at the Middlebury Invitational over the weekend. Chen was the most successful individual performer. He teamed with fellow doubles All-American Adam Tzeng of Eagle, Idaho, to win the 'A' doubles crown. Their toughest match came in the opening round against a tandem from Skidmore, an 8-6 win. They cruised in the second round, 8-0, against foes from RPI to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, they defeated the fourth seed from Colby, 8-5, then won the championship against the third seed from host Middlebury, 8-5, to take home the hardware. In the 'A' singles draw, Chen reached the semifinals. Seeded fourth, Chen defeated Paris Pentousis of Tufts, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round and Max Schuerman of Colby, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarters. In the semifinals, he fell to the unseeded eventual champion, Aiden Drover-Mattinen of RPI, 6-1, 6-3.

This is the second career UAA Athlete of the Week honor for Chen. The Brandeis men's tennis team returns to action this weekend with the 2021 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Championships. 

Chen is a 2018 graduate of New Trier High School.

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