May 7, 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College heptathlete Emily Pankow (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Central College decathlete Ben Bollard (Pella, Iowa/Pella) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, May 6. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s four sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Emily Pankow, Luther College, Palatine, Ill./Palatine
Pankow, a senior, won the Iowa Conference heptathlon with an NCAA provisional qualifying score of 4467 points. Last year’s heptathlon runner-up, she bested the 12 competitor field by 53 points. She posted top-four marks in all seven events – long jump (1st, 5.25 meters), 800-meters (2nd, 2:23.29), 100-hurdles (2nd, 15.67 seconds), 200-meters (2nd, 26.53 seconds), high jump (t-3rd, 1.46 meters), shot put (4th, 9.16 meters) and javelin (4th, 31.36 meters).

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Ben Bollard, Central College, Pella, Iowa/Pella
Bollard, a senior, won the Iowa Conference decathlon with an NCAA provisional qualifying score of 6380 points. Last year’s decathlon runner-up, he bested the 13 competitor field by 91 points. Bollard overcame an eight-point deficit heading into the final event, the 1500-meters. He posted the top time in the 1500 (4:29.27) and moved past Cornell’s James Klobucar. He finished in the top-three (of 13 participants) in seven of the 10 events – 1500-meters, 400-meters (1st, 49.36 seconds), 100-meters (2nd, 11.17 seconds), discus (2nd, 33.00 meters), 110-hurdles (3rd, 15.71 meters), long jump (3rd, 6.68 meters) and pole vault (3rd, 3.43 meters). He posted career-best marks in the discus, pole vault, 100-meters, long jump and 400-meters.

Baseball – Brett Mahan, Central College, West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley
Mahan, a junior pitcher, pitched two complete game victories during the week, posting a 1.93 ERA, seven strikeouts and allowing 11 hits in 14 innings. In a 6-2 win over Buena Vista, he struck out four batters, allowed one earned run and six hits. Mahan slowed two earned runs and five hits, while striking out three in a 13-3 win over Wartburg.

Softball – Steph Howe, Wartburg College, Clinton, Iowa/Northeast Goose Lake
Howe, a senior second baseman, hit .533 (8-for-15) with two home runs, a double, four RBI and five runs scored to lead #3-seed Wartburg to its second straight Iowa Conference Tournament title. In the Knights’ opener, a 10-0, 5-inning win over #6-seed Loras, Howe went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs, a double and three RBI. She went 1-for-4 with a run scored in a 2-1, 9-inning win over #2-seed Coe. In a 9-5 win over #4 Simpson, she was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and in the Championship game, a 6-0 win over top-seeded Luther, Howe went 2-for-4 and led the Knights to their second straight automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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

• Loras College junior Ellen Thys (Victor, Iowa/HLV) automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the discus with a winning throw of 46.92 meters at the Central Open. She also posted an NCAA provisional mark in the hammer at 49.20 meters.

• University of Dubuque sophomore Jeanriles Metezier (Pompano Beach, Fla./Coconut Creek) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in three events at the Dubuque Open – 100-meter dash (10.67), 200-meter dash (21.69) and 4x100 relay (41.25).

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