April 8, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Simpson College softball player Calie Hohneke (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) and Buena Vista University track and field athlete Eric Bertelsen (Polk City, Iowa/North Polk) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 6. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s six sports in competition during the week.

Softball – Calie Hohneke, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa/Indianola
Hohneke, a senior pitcher/designated player, started three of four games in the circle for the Storm, posting a 3-1 record and notching 41 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings pitched. She pitched a one-hitter against Crown (Minn.) April 1, then took a loss despite throwing a one-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against No. 12 Wartburg April 2. In an April 5 doubleheader sweep of Luther, she struck out 21 Norse batters. Hohneke pitched 8 2/3 innings of relief in game one to pick up the victory and then tossed her fifth career no-hitter as she went nine innings during Simpson’s 2-1 victory in game two. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Men’s Outdoor Track and Field – Eric Bertelsen, Buena Vista University, Polk City, Iowa/North Polk
Bertelsen, a junior, was part of three NCAA provisional marks for the Beavers during the Central Invitational April 5. He won the 100-meter dash in a provisional and school-record time of 10.71, captured the long jump with a NCAA provisional leap of 7.24 meters, and ran the second leg of the winning 4x100 relay, which won the event in a provisional time of 41.84. In addition, he took third in the 200 (21.81). (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Baseball – Jerrold Martijn, Wartburg College, Oranjestad, Aruba/Kirkwood Community College
Martijn, a junior pitcher/outfielder, ended a three-game weekend set against Loras with a sparkling 1.182 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage as the Knights took two of three from the Duhawks. He led the team with seven hits, three doubles, six RBIs and a home run. He took over the team lead in multiple-RBI games (five total) with two during the series. Martijn also pitched two innings of relief in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, picking up a save.

Women’s Outdoor Track and Field – Hannah Baker, Wartburg College, Keota, Iowa/Keota
Baker, a sophomore, was part of two individual event championships and one runner-up effort for Wartburg as the Knights placed second in a multi-divisional field at the Wartburg Select April 5. She ran on the runner-up 4x400 relay (3:55.65) in addition to placing first in a field of 34 runners in the 400-meter dash (56.45) and running on the winning 4x100 (47.81). All three were NCAA provisional qualifying efforts.

Men’s Golf – Reid Turner, Central College, Des Moines, Iowa/Grandview Park Baptist
Turner, a senior, tied with two other golfers (including Buena Vista’s Tim Murphy) for second place at the Duhawk Spring Invitational. He shot rounds of 73 and 75 to finish in a tie for the lead at 4-over-par 148, but lost out on medalist honors due to a tiebreaker. Central won the tournament by 11 strokes over Illinois Wesleyan.

Men's Tennis – Austin Stewart, University of Dubuque, Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott
Stewart, a junior, has won 10 singles matches and 10 doubles matches in a row. He has helped the team to an 11-2 record overall and a 1-0 record in the Iowa Conference with Dubuque’s two losses coming to NCAA Division III No. 2 Emory University and NCAA Division I South Carolina State.

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

Men’s Golf – Buena Vista University senior Tim Murphy (Dunlap, Iowa/Boyer Valley) tied with two other golfers (including Central’s Reid Turner) for second place at the Duhawk Spring Invitational. He posted a 76 on the final day to finish in a tie for the lead at 4-over-par 148, but lost out on medalist honors due to a tiebreaker. Including the fall schedule, this marks his third top-two finish of the year.

Men’s Golf – Simpson College sophomore Brett DeNeve (Victor, Iowa/HLV) captured medalist honors in the Simpson Invitational after posting a 74. He also tied for eighth at the Grand View Invitational after carding a 4-over-par 148.

Baseball – University of Dubuque senior outfielder Michael Ramos (Culver City, Calif./Culver City) hit .474 with nine hits in 19 at-bats in five games. He had a slugging percentage of 1.053, led the team with 20 total bases and a .500 on-base percentage and scored nine runs. He leads the league in runs scored (11), ranks second in total bases (23), and is third in slugging percentage (.742).

Softball – Cornell College freshman designated player Simone Wright (Zion, Ill./Waukegan) belted a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to provide the only runs in Cornell’s 2-0 game one win over Dubuque April 5. In four games last week, she had five hits with four runs scored, four RBI, and two home runs. She has a current six-game hitting streak and leads the team in batting average (.474) and slugging percentage (1.000).

Softball – Wartburg College freshman second baseman Jenni Hashman (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) turned in a remarkable 1.167 slugging percentage with three home runs and six RBIs, both team highs for No. 12-ranked Wartburg, as the Knights swept perennial league powers Central and Simpson last week. Sixty percent of her hits were long balls as she ended the week with five safeties.

Softball – Loras College sophomore pitcher Kate Earleywine (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead) broke both the Loras single-game and career strikeout marks April 5 at Buena Vista. In game one, a 12-inning affair won 2-0 by the Duhawks, she struck out a single-game record 15 Beavers. Her 10th strikeout in the same game also gave her the career record. In 1+ seasons at Loras, Earleywine has 293 strikeouts in 290.1 innings. The previous school record was 279. Over the course of the doubleheader sweep of BVU, she threw 19 scoreless innings. She also pitched a complete-game seven-hitter in a 4-2 win over Central April 2.

Women’s Outdoor Track and Field – Simpson College sophomore Lauren Bucklin (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) ran the second quickest time in school history (14.80) as she placed second in the event at the Wartburg Select Meet, provisionally qualifying her for the NCAA Championships. She also placed fifth in the 400 hurdles (1:07.47) with the sixth fastest time in Simpson history.

Men’s Outdoor Track and Field – Loras College junior Brian Westemeier (Waterloo, Iowa/West) won the discus at the Viking Olympus with a throw of 158-5 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA outdoor meet. He also finished third in the shot put (43-4 ¼) and sixth in the hammer throw (149-3).

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