IOWA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

IIAC SPORTS
Fall
  •  Cross Country (M)
  •  Cross Country (W)
  •  Football
  •  Golf (W)
  •  Soccer (M)
  •  Soccer (W)
  •  Tennis (W)
  •  Volleyball

Winter
  •  Basketball (M)
  •  Basketball (W)
  •  Wrestling

Spring
  •  Baseball
  •  Golf (M)
  •  Softball
  •  Tennis (M)
  •  Track & Field (M)
  •  Track & Field (W)
 

October 29, 2001

LORAS’ MURPHY AND LUTHER’S OLSON
NAMED IIAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
FOUR OTHERS RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS

MOUNT VERNON, IA . . .  The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today its Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, October 28, 2001.  Loras College cross country runner Marcus Murphy (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny HS) was selected IIAC Male Athlete of the Week and Luther College cross country runner Johanna Olson (Wadena, MN/Wadena-Deer Creek HS) was selected IIAC Female Athlete of the Week.

Both Murphy and Olson repeated as the Iowa Conference’s Cross Country Champions with their performances at the 2001 IIAC Cross Country Championship meet in Dubuque, IA on Saturday, October 27.  For Olson, a senior, it was her third consecutive IIAC Championship and she was named the Conference Most Valuable Runner for the third consecutive year as well.  She finished the 5K race in 17:52, 39 seconds ahead of the second place finisher (Wartburg’s Missy Buttry) and 28 seconds off her own Conference record set last year. 

Murphy, a two-time IIAC Champion and Most Valuable Runner, finished 40 seconds ahead of the race’s second place finisher (Wartburg’s Joe Hughes) in a time of 25:24.  His time knocked 14 seconds off the Conference’s previous 8K record set by Central’s Andy Goodman in 1994.

Also announced on Monday were the IIAC Players of the Week for the Conference’s six sports contested during the past week.  Murphy and Olson earned the honors for men’s and women’s cross country respectively, while the following student-athletes were honored in the other sports:

Football:  Coe College junior running back Fredrick Jackson (Fort Worth, TX/Lamar HS) amassed 284 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in the Kohawks’ victory over Cornell.  He carried the ball 33 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns and returned one kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.  In addition, Jackson returned six punts for 42 yards.

Men’s Soccer:  Luther College senior midfielder David Pendergast (Cedar Rapids, IA/Jefferson HS) scored two goals and added an assist in the Norse’s two Conference Tournament games.  He finished the Semifinal game against Cornell with three points (1-1) and scored the game-winning goal in the Championship game against Loras three minutes into overtime.

Women’s Soccer:  Loras College senior goaltender Sara Wieczorek (Winona, MN/Cotter HS) led the Duhawks to their first IIAC title with a 3-0-0 record and a 0.67 GAA in the Conference Tournament.  In the first round, she posted a four-save shutout over Wartburg.  In the Semifinals she made nine saves and allowed only one goal to second seed Luther, who averaged over four goals per game during the season.  Wieczorek made six second half saves against Cornell in the Championship game and again surrendered just one goal as Loras earned its first NCAA Tournament Berth.

Volleyball:  Central College senior Jody Woods (New Sharon, IA/North Mahaska HS) finished the week with 22 kills and 39 total attacks (.546 hitting percentage) in six games.  She also added one dig, two solo blocks and five block assists in the two matches.  She did not commit an attack error or a block error in either match.

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