May 1, 2005

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Central College softball player Kelly Harris (LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) and Coe College tennis player Ryan Yao (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) have been named IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, May 1.

Harris, a freshman catcher, hit .700 (14-of-20) with two triples, five RBI, seven runs scored and five stolen bases in six games during the week. Defensively, she threw out 7-of-10 would be base stealers and picked off four base runners. She went 5-for-7 in two Conference doubleheader sweeps against Buena Vista and Cornell including matching 3-for-4 performance in the two game ones and 2-for-3 performances in both game twos. She had two triples, an RBI and a run scored in the opener against BV; two RBI and a run in the opener against Cornell; and an RBI and run scored in the nightcap against Cornell. In the first game of a doubleheader sweep of Bethel (Minn.), Harris went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and three stolen bases.

Yao, a sophomore, went 10-1 during the Iowa Conference Championship including 6-0 in singles and 4-1 in doubles leading the Kohawks to its fifth straight Conference team title and winning the Flight A singles Championship. In the Individual Tournament, Yao defeated Wartburg’s Greg Koenen (6-0, 6-0), Luther’s Bjorn Hanson (6-2, 6-2), Wartburg’s Mark Giesmann (6-0, 6-2), Luther’s Jared Wiklund (6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals) and Central’s Nick Cochrane (6-4, 6-0 in the Championship match). In doubles of the Individual Tournament, he and partner Jake Michael defeated Cornell’s Tom Jennings/Kent Lehr (9-7) before losing the in quarterfinals to the top-seeded team and eventual Champion from Luther, Jono Martin/Brad Nelson (8-6). In the Team Tournament, Yao went 1-0 in singles with two unfinished matches and 3-0 in doubles.

The IIAC also announced on Monday the Performers of the Week for the six Conference sports in competition during the week. Harris and Yao were recognized in their respective sports, while the following individuals were recognized for their athletic performances.

Baseball: Central College senior center fielder/pitcher Austin DeHoogh (Clive, Iowa/Valley HS) hit .778 (7-for-9) during the week and pitched a complete game shutout as Central went 2-1 and extended its Conference winning streak to 10 straight. In a non-Conference loss to Morningside (13-9), DeHoogh went 2-for-4 with a run scored. In the first game of a doubleheader against Buena Vista (6-2 win), he went 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases. He went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored, and was the winning pitcher in the second game (9-0). He threw seven innings of eight hit ball and struck out two while walking just one.

Men’s Golf: Loras College senior Pete Weber (Peosta, Iowa/Western Dubuque) shot a 146 in the final two rounds of the Iowa Conference Championship to become the first Loras golfer to win Conference Medalist honors since 1998 and led the Duhawks to their first Conference title since 1954. He shot 73 both days, the lowest scores of both rounds, giving him the low score in each of the final three rounds of the four round Championship. Weber finished with an IIAC 72-hole Championship record two-under-par 286.

Women’s Track & Field: Wartburg College sophomore Bridget Burns (Monroe, Iowa/Prairie City-Monroe) was a member of three relay teams for the Knights at the Drake Relays including two that provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. She ran the anchor leg for the 4x400 relay team that provisionally qualified for the NCAAs with a finish of 3:54.54 and ran the second leg for the 4x100 relay team that provisionally qualified with a time of 48.89. She also ran the second leg for the sprint medley relay team that was the highest-finishing Division III school with a school record time of 4:02.32.

Men’s Track & Field: Loras College junior Andy Stoecken (Bellevue, Iowa/Bellevue) won the high jump at the Drake Relays with an NCAA automatic qualifying jump of 7-1.75, breaking one of Loras’ oldest track and field records previously set in 1985. He won the event by 1.5 inches.

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