March 24, 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, March 23. Upper Iowa University softball player Keelee Conrad (Alpha, Iowa/North Fayette HS) was named IIAC Female Athlete of the Week and Cornell College baseball player Nate Eichmeyer (Van Horne, Iowa/Benton Community HS) was named IIAC Male Athlete of the Week.

Conrad, a junior third baseman, went 7-for-14 (.500) during the week with a home run, a double and seven RBI in four games at the Marriott Fastpitch Invitational hosted by Washington (Mo.) University. In Upper Iowa’s 6-3 loss to #11-East Texas Baptist, she went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. In a 6-4 victory over Maryville (Mo.), she had one hit in four at bats, scored once and drove in one. She went 3-for-3 in a 3-1 loss to Washington (Mo.) and finished the Tournament with a 2-for-4, four RBI performance against St. Mary of the Woods. In that contest, Conrad drove in the game winning run with a single in the eighth inning.

Eichmeyer, a junior designated hitter, hit .500 and slugged 1.000 in four games during the week. He had six hits in 12 at bats with two home runs, four runs scored and nine runs driven in. He went 4-for-7 in a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Clare on Saturday and 2-for-5 in a split with Clarke on Sunday. In the first game against Mount St. Clare (14-3 win), Eichmeyer was 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. In the nightcap (10-5 win), he went 1-for-3 with an RBI. In the victory over Clarke (8-5), his lone hit in three at bats was a two-run home run. In Cornell’s loss to Clarke (10-9), he went 1-for-2, drove in three runs and scored once.

The IIAC also announced on Monday its Players of the Week for the Conference’s three sports in competition during the week. Conrad and Eichmeyer were named softball and baseball Players of the Week respectively and Central College’s Nick Cochrane (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge HS) was named IIAC Tennis Player of the Week.

Cochrane, a freshman, posted a 4-0 record during the week with two victories at #1 singles and two victories at #1 doubles with partner Aaron Enderlin. Cochrane posted singles victories over Simpson’s Luc Mbenoun (6-2, 6-3) and Loras’ Dave Fautsch (6-1, 6-2). In doubles, Cochrane and Enderlin defeated Simpson’s Mbenoun and Garrett Piklapp (9-8 (4)) and Loras’ Fautsch and Mark Goedken (8-4). With the victories, Cochrane improved to 15-6 on the season (8-3 singles, 7-3 doubles).

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