January 6, 2003

MOUNT VERNON, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today its Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, January 5. Wartburg College wrestler LeRoy Gardner III (Golden Valley, Minn./Hopkins HS) was selected IIAC Male Athlete of the Week and Simpson College basketball player Tiffany Whitsell (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy HS) was selected IIAC Female Athlete of the Week.

Gardner, a senior heavyweight, went 3-0 with two falls at the Lone Star Duals in Dallas, Texas on January 4. He defeated Central Oklahoma’s Josh Leading Fox, 8-1. Central Oklahoma is ranked #1 in NCAA Division II and defeated Wartburg 18-16. Gardner won by fall over Division I Cal State-Fullerton’s Edgar Hernandez with a pin at 1:05. The Knights defeated Fullerton, 23-22. In Wartburg’s 46-0 victory over Missouri Baptist, Gardner won by fall over Claude Robinson with a pin at 1:05. Gardner is in the midst of an eight match winning streak with five falls in two minutes or less during that span.

Whitsell, a senior guard, averaged 18.5 points per game on 12-of-23 shooting from the floor (52.2 percent) and 6-of-6 shooting from the line in two games during the week. In Simpson’s 76-62 win over Buena Vista University, she scored 20 points (7-of-12 from the floor including 4-of-6 from behind the arc), she grabbed three rebounds and had one assist. The following night she scored 17 points, grabbed two rebounds and had three assists as the Storm defeated Wartburg, 74-62. Simpson is 8-2 overall, 3-0 in the IIAC and tied for first place with Loras College.

The IIAC also announced its Players of the Week for the Conference’s three sports in competition during the week. Gardner and Whitsell earned the honor for their respective sports and Luther College’s Adam Morrisey (Leavenworth, KS/Leavenworth HS) was named IIAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Morrisey, a senior forward, averaged 23.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in two contests. He shot 64 percent (16-of-25) from the floor and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) from the free throw line. In Luther’s 60-51 loss to Cornell, he scored 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds and had two steals. The following night, in a 77-70 victory over Coe, Morrisey scored 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds, had two blocks and one steal. Luther improved to 3-7 overall, 2-1 in the IIAC and is tied with four other schools for first place in the Conference.

-30-