February 20, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Buena Vista University basketball player Kelli Staley (Charter Oak, Iowa/Boyer Valley) and Wartburg College wrestler Jacob Naig (Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, February 19. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s six sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Basketball – Kelli Staley, Buena Vista University, Charter Oak, Iowa/Boyer Valley
Staley, a senior forward, averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals in two games during the week. She shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the floor and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the free throw line in victories over Wartburg (68-65) and Dubuque (67-61). Staley scored 19 points (on 7-of-12 shooting), had five steals and four rebounds against Wartburg. Against Dubuque, she scored 20 points, including her 900th career point, to go along with seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Wrestling – Jacob Naig, Wartburg College, Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg
Naig, a sophomore, was named Dick Walker Outstanding Wrestler at the IIAC Championship after winning the 149-pound title as the third-seed. He went 3-0 with a technical fall and a major decision at the Championship. In the quarterfinals, he won by technical fall over #6-seed Andrew Sloan of Loras (16-0, 2:59). Naig defeated the #2-seed Kyle Forness of Buena Vista by major decision in the semifinals (10-2). In the Championship match, he won by decision over the defending Conference and national Champion, #1-seeded Matt Pyle of Luther (9-4). Pyle and Forness were ranked first and fourth nationally, respectively.

Men’s Basketball – Andy Rump, Luther College, Fort Madison, Iowa/Aquinas
Rump, a senior guard, averaged 21.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in two games during the week. He shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from the floor, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from behind the 3-point arc, and 90.0 percent from the free throw line (9-of-10) in a loss to Conference co-Champion Coe (70-66) and an overtime victory over Loras (84-80). Rump scored 20 points (on 7-of-13 shooting), had a rebound, an assist and a steal in a losing effort to Coe. Against Loras, he scored 23 points (on 6-of-15 shooting) and had two rebounds.

Men’s Tennis – Matt Leavenworth, Simpson College, West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley
Leavenworth, a sophomore, went 4-0 during the week with two victories at #1-singles and two at #1-doubles. In singles play, he defeated Buena Vista’s Khio Vongdeuane (6-0, 6-1) and Midland Lutheran’s Ethan Stout (6-3, 6-1). He teamed with Matt Johnson in doubles to post an 8-2 win over Buena Vista and an 8-6 win over Midland Lutheran.

Women’s Track & Field – Heather Axen, Cornell College, Golden, Colo./D’Evelyn
Axen, a senior, won the pole vault at the UNI-Dome Open with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 3.40 meters, besting the field by 0.15 meters. Her mark is currently the 17th-best in Division III.

Men’s Track & Field – Tyler Sherden, Luther College, Rochester, Minn./John Marshall
Sherden, a junior, won the 400-meter dash at the UNI-Dome Open in 49.77 seconds, besting the multi-divisional field by 69/100ths of a second. He also ran the anchor leg of the second-place finishing 4x400 relay team that ran a school record time of 3:20.75.

Other Outstanding Weekly Performers
The IIAC also recognized the following outstanding athletic performances from the past week.

• Simpson College senior center Sarah Pearson (Mechanicsville, Iowa/North Cedar) averaged 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the floor in victories over Dubuque (73-43) and Coe (84-65).

• Wartburg College senior center Nate Schmidt (Cascade, Iowa/Cascade) averaged 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the floor and connecting on all 12 free throws as the Knights split with Buena Vista (68-65 loss) and Cornell (88-66 win).

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