February 12, 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Central College basketball player Zak Clark (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond) and Luther College basketball player Christina Gaard (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) have been named the IIAC Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, February 11. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s six sports in competition during the week.

Men’s Basketball – Zak Clark, Central College, Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond
Clark, a junior guard, averaged 24.0 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game, shooting 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from the floor and 90.3 percent (28-of-31) from the free throw line in victories over Wartburg (88-73) and Dubuque (68-62). He scored 29 points, had six rebounds, four steals and two assists in an 88-73 win over Wartburg. In an IIAC Tournament berth clinching win over Dubuque, he scored 19 points, including tying a Central record by connecting on all 13 free throws. He also had seven assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Women’s Basketball – Christina Gaard, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa/Decorah
Gaard, a senior guard, averaged 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, and shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the floor in victories over Dubuque (65-42), Coe (61-43) and Buena Vista (78-67) to help Luther clinch its IIAC-record seventh women’s basketball title, first since 2002. Gaard scored her 900th career point as part of her 12-point performance against Dubuque. In that contest she also had four assists and three rebounds. She scored 18 points (on 7-of-14 shooting), had seven rebounds, six assists and two steals against Coe. In the title clincher against Buena Vista, she scored 15 points, had five rebounds and two assists.

Men’s Tennis – Reid Mason, Luther College, Edina, Minn./Edina
Mason, a junior, went 4-0 during the week with a pair of wins at #1 singles and #1 doubles. His singles victories came over Division II Minnesota State-Mankato’s Andrew Stein (6-0, 6-3) and Dubuque’s Jose Garcia (6-0, 6-0). In doubles, Mason teamed with Alex Lewke for an 8-4 win over Stein/Ryan Fredrickson and an 8-2 win over Dubuque’s Ian Book/Oliver DeSilva.

Men’s Track & Field – Guy Dierikx, Central College, Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale
Dierikx, a junior, provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash at Buena Vista’s Dennis Young Classic. His time of 49.16 seconds is currently fifth in Division III. Dierikx also ran a 48.9 second lead leg on the second-place finishing 4x400 relay team (3:24.9).

Women’s Track & Field – KeAnna Martin, Buena Vista Univ., St. Louis, Mo./Gateway Inst. of Tech.
Martin, a junior, won three individual events and finished in the top-6 of five total events at Buena Vista’s Dennis Young Classic. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 55-meter dash with a finish of 7.31 seconds, the top time in the IIAC to date. She also won the 200-meter dash with the Conference’s top time to date, 26.04 seconds, and won the 400-meter dash in 60.42 seconds. Martin was also a member of the 4x200 and 4x400 relays that finished second and sixth, respectively in times of 1:48.32 and 4:21.67 with splits of 25.46 and 60.44.

Wrestling – Kyle Forness, Buena Vista Univ. Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus
Forness, a sophomore 157-pounder, won his lone match of the week by technical fall over Wartburg’s Chris Sandy (17-2, 7:00).

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

• Buena Vista University freshman guard Margo Muhlbauer (Manilla, Iowa/IKM) averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in three contests during the week. For the eighth and ninth time this year, she scored 20-plus points off the bench, scoring 22 against Simpson and 23 against Cornell.

• Wartburg College senior Mike Dana (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with his winning triple jump performance at the UW-Whitewater Warhawk Classic. His jump of 46-feet 5.5-inches also set a Wartburg school record.

• Central College senior Alicia Whisner (Adel, Iowa/ADM) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with her fourth-place finish in the weight throw and broke her own school record for the third consecutive week with a mark of 48-feet 9.25-inches at the Dennis Young Classic. She also finished third in the shot put (41-feet 2.25-inches).

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