12 November 2008

In October, Ryan Howard's wood and Chrissie Wellington's iron were all the material needed to determine who would win the United States Sports Academy's Male and Female Athlete of the Month honors.

Howard was named Male Athlete of the Month after the Philadelphia Phillies' first baseman batted .375 with three home runs and six RBIs in the 2008 World Series. Two of those home runs were in Game 4, the other in Game 3 during a stretch that helped his team take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series before finishing off the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5.

Wellington, of Great Britain, was named Female Athlete of the Month after she won the World Ironman Triathlon Championship in Hawaii for the second year in a row, with a time of 9:06:23. It was the 31-year-old athlete's sixth first-place finish of the year.

Finishing a close second to Howard in the male category was University of Texas football quarterback Colt McCoy, whose team ran the table against three teams in the Top 15 in the month of October. The Longhorn signal caller hit 28 of 35 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown against then-No. 1 Oklahoma, 29 of 32 for 337 yards and two TDs against No. 11 Missouri, and 38 of 45 for 391 yards and two touchdowns against then-No. 6 Oklahoma State.

Finishing third for male athlete was Australian swimmer Robert Hurley, who set a world record in the 50-meter backstroke (23.24 seconds), winning it and the 200-meter backstroke (1:52.39) at the World Cup Short Course Swimming championships. Hurley also placed second in the 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke.

Finishing second on the female side was Japanese wrestler Hitomi Sakamoto, who won her sixth Women's World Wrestling Championship when she pinned Maryna Markevich of Belarus in the finals of the 51-kilogram class. This upped Sakamoto's record to 28-0 in the world championships. She has a winning streak of 62 in international matches.

Finishing third in the female category was figure skater Yu Na Kim of South Korea, who led an Asian sweep at Skate America, winning the title in a runaway Sunday over Japan's Yukari Nakano and Miki Ando. With a lead of nearly 12 points entering the free skate, the 18-year-old Kim added to her substantial cushion, ending with a total of 193.45.

Each Academy Athlete of the Month is selected by a national voting committee comprising former athletes, members of media organizations and members of sports organizations and governing bodies. At the end of each year, the athlete of the month contests culminate in the Academy Athlete of the Year worldwide fan vote, hosted by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Each month's winners are automatically added to the athlete of the year ballot.