December 12, 2005

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Loras College basketball player Natalie Pucci (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) and Luther College basketball player Jake Lappe (Fort Madison, Iowa/Aquinas) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, December 11. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s five sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Basketball – Natalie Pucci, Loras College, West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs
Pucci, a sophomore guard, averaged 18.0 points, 3.0 steals, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in two games during the week as Loras won its first two games of the season. She shot 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the floor, including 7-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc, and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line in victories over Ashford (71-50) and Edgewood (57-55). Pucci scored 18 points (on 5-of-8 shooting), had three assists, two rebounds (0-2) and two steals against Ashford. In the overtime victory over Edgewood, she scored 18 points (on 5-of-10 shooting), had four steals, three rebounds (0-3) and an assist.

Men’s Basketball – Jake Lappe, Luther College, Fort Madison, Iowa/Aquinas
Lappe, a senior forward, averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in two games during the week. He shot 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the floor and 60 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line in an 86-72 victory over Hamline and a 69-64 victory over Northwestern (Minn.). Lappe scored a game-high 23 points (on 9-of-12 shooting) and had five rebounds (2-3) against Hamline. In the Northwestern contest, he scored 18 points (on 8-of-10 shooting), had five rebounds (1-4) and three assists.

Women’s Swimming & Diving – Hannah Szerlong, Loras College, Milton, Wis./Milton
Szerlong, a freshman, won three events in Loras’ dual victory over Augustana (Ill.). She set the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in a time of 1:09.09, five seconds ahead of the second place finisher. She also won the 200-yard individual medley (2:17.62) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.60).

Men’s Swimming & Diving – Joe Spahn, Coe College, Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado
Spahn, a freshman, recorded three top-two finishes in Coe’s 151-49 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater. He won the 500-yard freestyle (5:14.07) and was a member of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:38.37). He also swam a season-best 1:54.50 to finish second in the 200-yard freestyle.

Wrestling – Dustin Hinschberger, Wartburg College, Belle Plaine, Iowa/Belle Plaine
Hinschberger, a senior, won the 141-pound title at the Dick Walker Invitational posting a 4-0 record with a fall, technical fall and major decision. He pinned Coe’s Mitch Zmolek (3:15) in his first match then won by technical fall over Augsburg’s Taylor Rich (15-0, 5:00). In the semifinals, Hinschberger won by major decision over Cornell’s Dave Paramaski (15-4) before defeating Iowa Central’s Joe Soto (7-1) in the Championship match.

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

• Luther junior forward Christina Gaard (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) averaged 15.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals in victories over Grinnell and Waldorf, shooting 45.0 percent (9-of-20) from the floor, including 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and was perfect on eight free throw attempts.

• Loras sophomore forward Kyle White (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in victories over Ashford and North Park, shooting 75 percent (12-of-16) from the floor, including 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc, and 80 percent from the free throw line (12-of-15).

• Wartburg sophomore forward Lee Nelson (Northwood, Iowa/Northwood-Kensett) averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in victories over Grinnell and Ashford, shooting 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the floor, including 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc.

• Buena Vista freshman Kyle Forness (Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus) went 4-0 at 149-pounds during the week including a fall and a technical fall. Ranked #7 in Division III, Forness has not lost to a Division III wrestler this year and is the only freshman ranked in his weight class.

• Dubuque senior Cole Williams (Delavan, Wis./Delavan Darien) went 5-0 at 165-pounds during the week with a fall and two major decisions. The #7 ranked wrestler in the nation, Williams defeated the #2 ranked wrestler, Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Derek Sikora, 3-2 in triple overtime.

• Loras senior Terry Morgan (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce) went 5-0 during the week with a fall and technical fall, and won the 125-pound weight class at the Dick Walker Invitational to lead Loras to a second-place finish.

 

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