STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton Athletics has announced that Texan Cross Country's Kevin Baez and Texan Volleyball's Rajini Fitzmaurice are The Grove Student-Athletes of the Month for September.
 
The student-athlete of the month is selected based on the all-around student-athlete for one male and one female. The student-athlete shows effort and excellence in academics, leadership, civility, dedication to the team, campus involvement, community service, and the ability to serve as role models for current and future Tarleton State University students and student-athletes.
 
To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better. Only athletes competing in their championship season are eligible for the award each month.
 
Baez showed out in his two events in September. In his season debut at the 2023 Texas A&M Invitational, Baez finished second individually with a time of 24:09.8 at Watts Cross Country Course in Bryan-College Station, Texas. Year-over-year he improved his time and place after a fourth place finish last season at the same event with a time of 24:26.0. For his efforts this year, he was named the WAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week, his third career honor. The Texans then traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and competed in the Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park Cross Country Course. Baez led the Texans once again, placing 27th out of 292 participants in the Men's "McDonnell Memorial" 8k with a time of 24:58.5.
 
Fitzmaurice burst onto the scene in September, helping Tarleton Volleyball go 9-5 in the month to aid in their best start through 18 matches (11-7) at the NCAA Division I level. Of Tarleton's 14 September matches, Fitzmaurice landed 10-plus kills nine times, including in eight straight matches from Sept. 2-16. She had possibly her best match in Tarleton's nail-biting finish against Alabama on Sept. 9, finishing with a season-high 19 kills, to go with 13 digs. Overall this season, Fitzmaurice is second on the team in kills (180) and third in digs (133).
 
Once selected as student-athlete of the month, the recipients are eligible to be selected for Tarleton Student-Athlete of the Year award at the end of the season.
 
The list of the year's complete award winners are as follows:
 
September: Kevin Baez (Cross Country) and Rajini Fitzmaurice (Volleyball)

ABOUT THE GROVE
The Grove is a fully-furnished apartment complex in Stephenville catered to the students of Tarleton State University. They will be the title sponsor of the Student-Athlete of the Month awards for the 2023-24 season.