October 1 , 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . .The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College women’s cross country runner Janet Dobyns (Iowa City, Iowa/West) and Luther College football player Tyler Pease (Stuart, Iowa/West Central Valley) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, September 30. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s eight sports in competition during the week.

Football – Tyler Pease, Luther College, Stuart, Iowa/West Central Valley
Pease, a senior placekicker, set an Iowa Conference record with six made field goals in a 25-20 win at Cornell. Pease was 6-for-6 on the afternoon connecting on field goals of 27, 33, 27, 22, 28 and 26 yards as the Norse posted their first win of the season. Pease also added an extra point following Luther’s lone touchdown of the day. Chris Gardner (Loras) and Carlos Martinez (Buena Vista) had shared the old record of five field goals in a single game.

Women’s Cross Country – Janet Dobyns, Luther College, Iowa City, Iowa/West
Dobyns, a junior, placed third individually out of 567 runners in the Maroon (Division III) race at the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota. Dobyns traversed the 6,000-meter course in 22:33.85, 32.3 seconds behind the winner and just 2.85 seconds out of second place. She led the Norse to a ninth-place team finish (330 points) in a field that featured eight teams ranked in the USTFCCCA’s Top 35.

Volleyball – Ashley Rogers, Wartburg College, Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert
Rogers, a senior middle/outside hitter, earned Most Valuable Player honors at the Simpson Storm Invitational. She tallied an attack percentage of .300 or better in three of four matches at the tournament including a five-game win over No. 18-ranked UW-La Crosse as the Knights captured the tournament title. Rogers has hit .245 or higher in nine straight matches and enters this weekend’s IIAC/MIAC Border Battle just 174 kills shy of setting a new Wartburg career record.

Women’s Golf – Stephanie Burns, Wartburg College, Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls
Burns, a sophomore, is the clubhouse leader following the first weekend of the Iowa Conference Women’s Golf Championship at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Burns is first in the field of 43 golfers after shooting rounds of 75 and 78 for a 153 36-hole total, three shots ahead of teammate Daina Deery. Her first-round 75 is the lowest round carded in the IIAC this fall, helping to lead the Knights to a 16-stroke advantage with two rounds to play.

Men’s Soccer – Santiago Mejia, Loras College, Cali, Colombia/Colegio Bolivar
Mejia, a sophomore midfielder, scored two goals and two assists in three games last week. His goals in games at Monmouth and at home against UW-Platteville gave the Duhawks early leads. Mejia also posted an assist in a 3-1 league win over Central.

Women’s Soccer – Emily Ironside, Luther College, Dubuque, Iowa/Senior
Ironside, a junior forward, scored three goals and an assist on the week to lead the Norse to a 2-0 record. Ironside notched the only goal in a 1-0 win over UW-Whitewater then added two goals and an assist in a 5-2 IIAC win at Buena Vista. Ironside leads the team with eight goals this season.

Men’s Cross Country – Eric Osterhaus, Simpson College, Waterville, Iowa/Waukon
Osterhaus, a junior, placed 14th individually out of 367 runners in the Maroon (Division III) race at the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota. Osterhaus covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:23.2, 1:02.3 behind the winner. The highest finishing Iowa Conference runner in the race, Osterhaus led the Storm to a 19th-place team finish with 488 points.

Women’s Tennis – Molly Fiala, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson
Fiala, a junior, posted two wins each at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles to lead the Kohawks to a pair of IIAC victories. Against Loras, Fiala defeated Alisha Espey 6-1, 6-1 and teamed with Andrea Schupbach to post an 8-1 win over the Duhawks’ top doubles tandem. Fiala also posted a 6-2, 7-5 win over Luther’s Molly Beyer and again teamed with Schupbach for an 8-5 win over Luther’s No. 1 doubles team.

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

• Women’s Tennis – Simpson College junior Jill Berner (Albia, Iowa/Albia) went 3-0 in singles play and 2-1 in doubles play during the week. Berner defeated Buena Vista’s Megan Anderson (6-1, 6-3), Augustana’s Kaitlin Kulovitz (6-4, 6-1) and William Jewell’s Ann Lewis (6-0, 6-2) to extend her singles winning streak to eight matches. Teaming with Gwen Kingsbury, Berner posted wins over No. 3 doubles teams from Buena Vista (8-0) and William Jewell (9-7) and fell to Augustana’s No. 3 doubles team by an 8-4 score.

• Football – Simpson College junior quarterback Travis Dietz (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) rushed for the game-winning touchdown in the Storm’s 33-26 double-overtime win at Loras. Dietz completed 11 of 20 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns through the air while adding 23 yards on five carries along with the deciding score.

• Football – Wartburg College sophomore quarterback Nick Yordi (Solon, Iowa/Solon) extended his current string of 200-yard plus passing games to four during the Knights’ 34-17 win at Dubuque. Yordi went 16-of-35 through the air for 221 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Wartburg offense, surpassing 1,000 yards passing (1,017) and 10 touchdown passes (11) on the season in the process.

• Volleyball – Simpson College sophomore setter Tara Christensen (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) was named to All-Tournament team at the Simpson Invitational after posting at least 34 assists in three of the Storm’s four matches. In five matches overall during the week, Christensen notched 186 assists (12.4 per game), 46 digs (3.07 per game) and 25 kills (1.67 per game). She posted double-doubles against Loras (38 asst., 13 digs) and UW-La Crosse (40 asst., 12 digs).

• Volleyball – Cornell College senior setter/defensive specialist Hope Coffin (Iowa City, Iowa/Regina) was named to the All-Tournament Team at the UW-Platteville Invitational after leading the Rams to a 2-2 record. In five matches overall during the week, Coffin posted 199 assists (8.9 per game) and 58 digs (2.76 per game), totaling at least 33 assists in every match. She also posted double-doubles against Luther (38 asst., 13 digs), UW-Stout (34 asst., 15 digs) and Lake Forest (38 asst., 18 digs.).

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