February 4, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College women’s basketball player Ashley TeKippe (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) and Coe College men’s basketball player Kyle Kuenstling (Dunkerton, Iowa/Dunkerton) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, February 3. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s seven sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Basketball – Ashley TeKippe, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa/Decorah
TeKippe, a senior post player, averaged 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while posting a pair of doubles-doubles as Luther picked up key road victories over Buena Vista (79-73) and Cornell (64-58). TeKippe, who shot 16-of-25 (64.0%) from the field on the week, tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds against Buena Vista and 20 points and 11 rebounds at Cornell. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Men's Basketball – Kyle Kuenstling, Coe College, Dunkerton, Iowa/Dunkerton
Kuenstling, a senior forward, averaged 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while helping the Kohawks to a 2-0 record on the week with wins over Wartburg and league-leading Buena Vista. He scored 18 points in the 83-78 win at Buena Vista Saturday, Coe’s first win in Storm Lake since 1999. With his 14 rebounds against Wartburg, Kuenstling moved into first place on Coe’s all-time rebounds list, breaking a 34-year old record and becoming the first player in school history with over 700 rebounds. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Wrestling – Rob Struthers, Wartburg College, Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg
Struthers, a senior 125-pounder, joined Wartburg’s 2007-08 30-win club with two wins last weekend. Struthers, ranked sixth in NCAA Division III, posted a 6-4 decision over 4th-ranked Seth Flodeen of Augsburg Saturday to avenge a loss in last season’s NCAA Division III national quarterfinals. His victory sparked a 28-9 win for the top-ranked Knights over second-ranked and perennial mat rival Augsburg. The dual win, one of the largest in the series between the schools, increased Wartburg’s dual win string to 29 in a row. Struthers added a 4:00 technical fall over Cornell’s Cole Mason Friday evening as the Knights posted a 50-0 win over the Rams.

Men's Indoor Track and Field – James Klobucar, Cornell College, Janesville, Wis./Craig
Klobucar, a senior, won the 55-meter hurdles with a personal-best and NCAA provisional time of 7.63 seconds at the Hilltop Open Saturday. He also took sixth in the 200 (:23.22) and ran the opening leg on Cornell’s ninth-place 4x400-meter relay.

Women's Indoor Track and Field – Ellen Thys, Loras College, Victor, Iowa/HLV
Thys, a senior, provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in both the shot put and weight throw with her performances at Hilltop Open. Thys won the shot put with a heave of 43-1 1/2, and took fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 50-10.

Men's Swimming and Diving – Alex Eganhouse, Luther College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington
Eganhouse, a senior, was named IIAC Diver of the Year after sweeping the men’s diving events at the 2008 Iowa Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Eganhouse shattered both Iowa Conference and Luther school records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. He posted a point total of 526.55 (11 dives) in the 3-meter competition, breaking his own record of 441.71 set in 2006. In 1-meter diving, he tallied 501.35 points, destroying the old record of 475.95, also set in 2006.

Women's Swimming and Diving – Lauren Lehenbauer, Loras College, Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf
Lehenbauer, a junior, was named IIAC Swimmer of the Year after posting wins in three individual events and placing second on three relays at the 2008 Iowa Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Lehenbauer won the 400 individual medley (4:40.30), the 200 butterfly (2:15.04), and the 1650 freestyle (17:54.83) and swam legs on runner-up 400 freestyle (3:51.34), 800 freestyle (8:33.60), and 400 medley (4:21.12) relays. Lehenbauer’s time in the 1650 free broke the school and IIAC meet record. She also set a school record in the 1000 free with her intermediate split in the 1650.

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

Men's Basketball – Buena Vista University junior guard Andre Wagner (Omaha, Neb./Northwest) turned in a game-high 25 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers in an 83-78 loss to Coe. He also turned in a game-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while also going 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, in a 74-53 triumph over Luther on Wednesday. For the week, he upped his team-high scoring average from 13.4 to 14.5 and he has scored at least 21 points in four of his last six games.

Men’s Basketball – Central College senior forward Keith Pedersen (Jefferson, Iowa/Jefferson-Scranton) missed just one shot in two games to raise his season field goal percentage, tops in Division III. He averaged 17.5 points and five rebounds in a 76-71 home win over Cornell and a 81-67 home loss to Loras.

Men’s Basketball – Loras College junior guard Brian Centella (Grayslake, Ill./Grayslake) averaged 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists as the Duhawks posted wins over Dubuque (70-67) and Central (81-67) last week. Against Dubuque, Centella scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to help lead Loras to a comeback win over the crosstown Spartans.

Women’s Basketball – Simpson College senior center Ashley Katch (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) scored 17 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and blocked 10 shots in Saturday’s 99-76 win over Dubuque to become the first Simpson basketball player (men’s or women’s) to post a triple-double.

Women’s Basketball – Central College freshman center Andrea Clark (Guthrie Center, Iowa/Guthrie Center) posted back-to-back double-doubles in losses to Cornell (81-65) and Loras (78-74 OT). Clark scored a career-high 25 points against Loras.

Women’s Basketball – University of Dubuque sophomore forward Jennifer Nichols (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) averaged 20.0 points and 2.5 rebounds as the Spartans split a pair of games last week. Nichols scored 22 points in a 71-60 win at Loras, then followed that up with 18 points in a 99-76 loss at Simpson.

Wrestling – Luther College senior 174-pounder A.J. Gregg (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) posted a fall at 1:33 over Coe’s Tyler Jentz in the final match of the night to secure a 19-17 victory for #12 Luther over #7 Coe.

Women’s Swimming and Diving – Coe College junior Colleen Fowler (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) set the school record, conference meet record, pool record and made the NCAA cut for both the 1-meter and 3-meer dives with her sweep of both disciplines at the Iowa Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Fowler was named IIAC Diver of the Year for the third straight year.

Women’s Indoor Track and Field – Simpson College senior Suzi Anderson (Albia, Iowa/Albia) won the 400-meter dash (1:01.57) and the long jump (16-7) at the Cornell Hilltop Open, while also finishing fourth in the triple jump (33-1) and running a leg on the runner-up 4x400-meter relay (4:10.79).

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