February 10, 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, February 9. Loras College track and field performer Marcus Murphy (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS) was named IIAC Male Athlete of the Week and Buena Vista University basketball player Amy Meggers (Manilla, Iowa/I-K-M HS) was named IIAC Female Athlete of the Week.

Murphy, a junior, automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000-meters with his run at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational. His time, 14:35.20, is currently the second fastest qualifying time and is 1.30 seconds faster than the automatic qualifying standard (14:36.50). Murphy also set a Loras school record with his time.

Meggers, a junior forward, earns her third IIAC Female Athlete of the Week honor. She finished the week with 30.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in two contests. She shot 53.5 percent from the floor (23-of-43) and 76.9 percent from the free throw line (10-of-13) in victories over Cornell (78-66) and Coe (95-67). Against Cornell, she scored 26 points (10-of-18 from the floor including 3-of-3 from behind the arc), grabbed 13 rebounds (3-10), and had two blocks, one assist and one steal. She scored a career-high 35 points in 31 minutes against Coe, shooting 13-of-25 from the field (4-of-8 behind the arc). She also grabbed 12 rebounds (4-8), and had three steals and one assist.

The IIAC also announced the Players of the Week for the Conference’s six sports in competition during the week. Murphy and Meggers received the honors for their respective sport and the following individuals were recognized for their athletic achievements.

Men’s Basketball: Buena Vista University junior forward Scott Weber (Audubon, Iowa/Audubon HS) averaged 17.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in victories over Cornell (74-49) and Coe (92-84) to extend the Beavers’ winning streak to 10 games. Along with two assists, two blocks and two steals, he shot 75 percent from the floor (12-of-16) and 62.5 percent from the free throw line (10-of-16).

Men’s Tennis: Luther College senior Erik Guffy (Ames, Iowa/Ames HS) went 6-0 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational, won by the Norse. Guffy posted singles victories at #4 against Wisconsin-Whitewater and Illinois Wesleyan along with a #2-singles victory against Concordia (Wis.). At #3-doubles with Scott Rheinschmidt, Guffy went 3-0.

Women’s Track and Field: Wartburg College sophomore Missy Buttry (Shenandoah, Iowa/Shenandoah HS) automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1500-meters and provisionally qualified in the 800-meters in her first competition of the season at the UNI Panther Open. She won the mile run by 11 seconds finishing in 4:51.47, 6.03 seconds faster than the automatic qualifying standard. She won the 800-meters by five seconds finishing in 2:17.89. Her time in the mile qualifies her for the 1500-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She was the 2002 National Champion in the 1500-meters.

Wrestling: Wartburg College 149-pound junior Bart Mehlert (LaPorte City, Iowa/Union HS) posted a 5-0 record with three falls and one technical fall against NCAA Division II wrestlers at the Central Missouri State Dual Jamboree. He defeated Southern Illinois Edwardsville’s Alex Carter by technical fall (17-0), pinned Fort Hays State’s Justin Speakman at 1:57, pinned Central Missouri State’s Eric Pizzi (ranked #6 in Division II) at 6:00 and pinned Southwest Minnesota State at 0:31. His fifth victory was by injury default over NAIA Missouri Baptist’s Darryn Derrough.

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