December 11, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Loras College wrestler Jay Figgins (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) and Loras basketball player Lindsay Bava (Downers Grove, Ill./Montini Catholic) have been named the IIAC Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, December 10. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s five sports in competition during the week.

Wrestling – Jay Figgins, Loras College, Clinton, Iowa/Clinton
Figgins, a junior, posted a 5-0 record during the week with four falls and won the 184-pound weight class at the Dick Walker Invitational. In a dual meet victory over Dubuque, Figgins pinned Anthony Higgins at 1:47. At the Dick Walker, he had two more first period falls, including wins over Coe’s Jacob Brinkman (at 1:30) and Augustana (Ill.)’s Brian Kerr (at 0:27). Figgins also pinned Iowa Central’s Nate Willard (at 3:31) and won by medical forfeit over Wartburg’s Romeo Djoumessi.

Women’s Basketball – Lindsay Bava, Loras College, Downers Grove, Ill./Montini Catholic
Bava, a freshman guard, averaged 18.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in two contests during the week. She shot 62.5 percent from the floor (10-of-16) and on 3-pointers (5-of-8), and shot 91.7 percent from the free throw line (11-of-12) in a victory over Ashford (83-55) and a loss to Carthage (58-52), coming off the bench in both contests. She scored a then career-high 16 points (on 5-of-8 shooting), had three rebounds, four steals and two assists against Ashford. Bava bested her career-high set three nights before with a 20-point performance (on 5-of-8 shooting) against Carthage to go along with two rebounds and a steal.

Men’s Basketball – Jason Soppe, Simpson College, Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman
Soppe, a senior center, averaged 29.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in two contests during the week. He combined to shoot 64.7 percent from the floor (22-of-34) and 93.3 percent from the free throw line (14-of-15) in a win over Iowa Wesleyan (73-60) and loss to Grinnell (139-127). He scored 17 points (on 6-of-10 shooting), had nine rebounds and four assists against Iowa Wesleyan. Soppe had a double-double in a losing effort to Grinnell, including 41 points and 12 rebounds. He also contributed four assists while connecting on 16-of-24 shots from the floor and all nine free throw attempts. His 41 points are the fifth most scored in a game in school history.

Men’s Swimming & Diving – Cameron Webb, Luther College, Carroll, Iowa/Carroll
Webb, a sophomore, was a part of three pool records in Luther’s 139-101 dual victory over Division II Minnesota State-Mankato. Webb won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle in record times of 1:46.79 and 4:56.79, respectively. He was also a member of the pool record setting 200 freestyle relay team that won in a time of 1:27.40.

Women’s Swimming & Diving – Elissa Schmidt, Luther College, Claremont, Minn./Owatonna
Schmidt, a junior, set the pool record in the 200 freestyle in Luther’s dual loss to Minnesota State-Mankato with a time of 1:59.83. She also finished second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.56, less than a second behind Mankato’s Kaitlin Degner who swam a pool record time of 54.69.

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

• Buena Vista University sophomore center Brian Fogleman (Manning, Iowa/Manning) averaged 18.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and shot 66.7 percent from the floor in consecutive overtime wins against Dordt (66-61), the 10th-ranked team in the NAIA Division II, and St. Ambrose (103-98).

• Buena Vista University senior heavyweight Wade Hammen (Rockwell City, Iowa/Rockwell City-Lytton) went 3-0 during the week with two falls. He pinned UW-Stevens Point’s Mitch Szwet at 1:05 and William Penn’s Chauncey Coleman, the 7th-ranked wrestler in the NAIA at 5:06. Hammen also won by decision over Dubuque’s Eric Daughetee (8-4).

• Wartburg College sophomore Aaron Wernimont (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas) went 4-0 with three major decisions and a technical fall to win the 157-pound weight class at the Dick Walker Invitational. He had major decisions over Loras’ Mark Kapraun (14-4), UW-Platteville’s Jesse Mills (13-4) and Cornell’s Pat McAuley (14-5) then registered a technical fall in the Championship match over Iowa Central’s Nate Carr (19-4, 6:22).

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