In our second installment of GM Sports Media’s male and female college athletes of the week in 2023, North Texas QB Chandler Rogers and Hawaii setter Kate Lang are the latest winners.
College athletes must have played for a high school in DFW.
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: CHANDLER ROGERS
Rogers, who starred at Lake Ridge HS, led the UNT Mean Green to their first win of the season, a 40-37 victory on the road at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Rogers completed 24 of 41 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns.
He added 35 yards on nine carries with a long of 16.
The Mean Green were up 23-14 at halftime and 30-14 after three quarters only to see LA Tech outscore them 23-10 in the fourth, which included 10 points in a 28 second stretch. Tech tied the game at 37-37 after a 36-yard TD pass with 1:04 left.
After Tech tied it, UNT got the ball at the 25 with 64 ticks left. Rogers hit a deep pass for 23 yards to Roderic Burns to get the ball near midfield. Rogers then got a pass off for 6 and 7 yards, and a rush of 3 yards to put the Mean Green at the LA Tech 35.
The drive set up the game winning 31 yard field goal by Noah Rauschenberg with 3 seconds left. Rogers threw a 6-yard TD with 14 seconds left in the first half and a 36-yard TD early in the fourth that gave UNT a 37-20 lead.
Rogers previously spent time at Louisiana Monroe for two seasons and accounted for 4,400 yards and 30 touchdowns. He played in 25 games with 18 starts. In 2022, he was 13th in the FBS in completion percentage with 67.5.
He also went to Southern Miss and Blinn College.
As a senior at Lake Ridge, Rogers accounted for 3,394 yards and 34 touchdowns as the Eagles went to the third round of the playoffs. He was also the team’s leading rusher. He finished his HS career with over 6,000 yards and 65 TDs.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: KATE LANG
Lang, who starred at Keller HS, returned home to DFW for the Fight in the Fort tournament at TCU. In three games, she recorded 134 assists and helped the Rainbow Wahine to a 2-1 record with wins over Western Carolina and Florida State.
For her efforts, she was named Big West Setter of the Week for the FOURTH STRAIGHT TIME this season. Lang has won the award five straight times, dating back to last season and seven overall in her career.
Lang, who is a junior, had 40 assists or more in all three matches with a high of 54 assists during a 3-1 loss to host TCU. She would post 40 and 45 assists during sweeps over WCU and FSU. Against the Noles, Lang also registered 10 digs for her fifth double double of the season.
Hawaii is 7-4 this fall. The Wahine went 22-7 last year and 19-1 in conference play before reaching the NCAA tournament where they lost to LSU 3-1.
In three years with Hawaii, Lang has posted 2,475 assists in 237 career sets. She had 1,102 assists in 107 sets last year as a sophomore and 901 assists in 87 sets in 2021.
Lang was named Big West Setter of the Year and First Team in 2022.
She was also 2021 First Team.
A 2020 graduate from Keller HS, Lang played all four years on varsity and recorded nearly 3,000 career assists with a career best 1,127 in 2018 as a junior. The Indians had a 119-61 record during Lang’s four seasons.
