UIS women's cross country standout Madelyn Miller-Ross has been named the Jimmy John's Athlete of the Month for September after a remarkable start to the 2025 season. Now in its third year, the monthly award continues to spotlight outstanding Prairie Star performances across all sports. This month's selection was one of the most competitive yet, featuring an impressive field of nominees — including several newcomers and rising stars who made major impacts early in their seasons.

Miller-Ross, a two-time GLVC Runner of the Week during September, helped lead the Prairie Stars to their best opening month in program history.

She opened the season in dominant fashion at the Prairie Stars Invitational, where she won the race, set a course record, and earned the season's first GLVC Runner of the Week honor with a time of 18:01 in the 5K. Her performance led UIS to a first-place team finish.

At the Lucian Rosa Invitational, Miller-Ross placed 11th out of 207 runners with a time of 21:38, finishing just one second behind the top runner from the Midwest region. Her strong showing helped UIS finish 11th out of 23 teams, including a head-to-head win over Southwest Baptist, which was one of two teams ranked ahead of the Stars in the GLVC preseason poll.

Miller-Ross entered the season nationally ranked No. 14 in the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA and backed up that recognition with impressive early results. Her leadership and consistency also helped to lift the UIS women's team into the USTFCCCA Regional Rankings for the first time in program history, debuting at No. 8 in the Midwest at the end of September. Her performance and leadership have set the tone for a historic season for UIS women's cross country.

Jimmy John's Athlete of the Month
Athlete of the Month honorees will be recognized at the end-of-year UIS Athletics banquet and will also be considered for UIS Male, Female, or Rookie of the Year, based on their respective categories.

The Jimmy John's Athlete of the Month award is presented in partnership with Jimmy John's on South 6th Street in Springfield, reflecting a shared commitment between Jimmy John's and UIS Athletics to celebrate excellence, teamwork, and achievement across all Prairie Star programs.

Nominees
Madelyn Miller-Ross, Women's Cross Country
Joey Karlesky, Men's Cross Country
Colin Graham, Men's Cross Country
Ema Norma Bordean, Women's Tennis
Kai Van-Roon, Men's Tennis
Erica Sledge, Volleyball
Makenna Cox, Volleyball
Mallory Herber, Women's Soccer
Robin Lemke Bergseth, Men's Soccer
Jack Hudson, Men's Soccer
Elaine Grant, Women's Golf
Peyton Woods, Men's Golf