April 10, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Coe College baseball player Chad Kramer (Iowa City, Iowa/West) and Central College track and field performer Dana Wilkerson (North English, Iowa/English Valley) have been named the IIAC Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 9. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s six sports in competition during the week.

Baseball – Chad Kramer, Coe College, Iowa City, Iowa/West
Kramer, a senior first baseman, hit .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, a home run, eight RBI and five runs scored in four games during the week. He became Coe’s career leader for hits, RBI and doubles with his 5-for-10, two double and four RBI performance in a doubleheader split against Loras. In the nightcap, a 20-12 Kohawk victory, he went 4-for-7 with four RBI, two doubles and three runs. He went 2-for-5 with four RBI, a home run and two runs scored in a split with Grinnell, including a three RBI performance in game one (a 4-3 Coe win).

Women’s Track & Field – Dana Wilkerson, Central College, North English, Iowa/English Valley
Wilkerson, a senior, won the heptathlon at the Wartburg Select with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, meet record and personal best score of 4480 points. She had one of the top-two marks in five of the seven events including the best mark in the long jump (16-8). She had the second-best mark in the javelin (122-6), high jump (5-0.25), 100-hurdles (16.02), and 800-meters (2:29.20). Her marks in the shot put (31-11.5) and in the 200-meters (27.13) were third and fourth, respectively in the 12 participant field.

Men’s Golf – Ben Hanson, Luther College, Richfield, Minn./Richfield
Hanson, a junior, won the Wartburg Invitational with a 1-over-par 143. After shooting a 76 in the opening round, he equaled the Tournament’s low round with a three-under-par 67 to move from a fourth-place tie after one round to the top of the leaderboard, winning by four strokes.

Softball – Brandi Sykora, Buena Vista University, Smithland, Iowa/Westwood
Sykora, a sophomore utility player, led Buena Vista to a 5-1 record during the week with performances in the circle and at the plate. She threw three complete games without surrendering an earned run and hit .421 (6-for-19) with two home runs, a double, six RBI and six runs scored. She won the second game of doubleheaders against Cornell (one hit, three strikeouts), Nebraska Wesleyan (six hits, three unearned runs, six strikeouts) and Loras (three hits, two unearned runs, five strikeouts in a five-inning game). Offensively, she had three multi-hit games – 2-for-4 performances while pitching against Cornell and Nebraska Wesleyan, and 2-for-3 in game one against Loras.

Men’s Tennis – Ryan Yao, Coe College, Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley
Yao, a junior, went 3-0 during the week with wins at #1 singles, #1 doubles and #2 doubles. In singles, he defeated Central’s Nick Cochrane, the 25th-ranked player in the Central region (0-6, 7-5, 6-3). In doubles with Jake Michael, Yao had an 8-5 win over Central at #2 and an 8-3 win over Simpson at #1.

Men’s Track & Field – Guy Dierikx, Central College, Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale
Dierikx, a sophomore, won two events and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in one at the Wartburg Select. He was a member of the provisionally qualifying 4x100 relay team that won the event in a time of 41.84. He also set a meet record with his first-place finish in the 400-meter dash (48.60).

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

• Central College senior catcher Adam Duerfeldt (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) hit .667 (4-of-6) with two RBI and three runs scored to led the Dutch to its first doubleheader sweep of Wartburg since 1985.

• Coe College senior outfielder Ashley Wagner (Lansing, Iowa/Kee) hit .538 (7-for-13) with three home runs, a triple, eight RBI and four runs scored in sweeps of William Penn and Dubuque. She went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a career-high six RBI in a 9-2 win over William Penn, and drove in the only run of the game in the opener vs. Dubuque.

• Wartburg College senior pitcher Jackie Sorensen (Tiffin, Iowa/Clear Creek-Amana) went 2-0 with a one save, a 1.56 ERA and seven strikeouts in four games during the week including complete game victories over Simpson (a three-hit shutout) and Central.

• Loras College sophomore Whitney Calvert (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the pole vault with her winning vault of 11-7.25 at the Wartburg Select. She bested the 26-member field by almost six inches.

• Wartburg College sophomore Jessica Bates (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw (158-2) and shot put (48-7) after placing first and second in the events, respectively at the Wartburg Select.

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