October 29, 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College cross country runner Janet Dobyns (Iowa City, Iowa/West) and University of Dubuque football player Jermar Jackson (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, October 28. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s eight sports in competition during the week.

Football – Jermar Jackson, University of Dubuque, Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon
Jackson, a senior quarterback, was part of four scores (three rushing, one passing) in a 28-14 win over Loras. Jackson completed 20 of 35 passes for 272 yards and rushed 27 times for 154 yards. He broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a single season with his 16th and pushed his career total for rushing touchdowns to 42. He also broke the Dubuque mark for most rushing attempts with 608 and the Dubuque single-season mark for points with 96. Jackson currently has 9,548 yards of total offense for his career. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Women’s Cross Country – Janet Dobyns, Luther College, Iowa City, Iowa/West
Dobyns, a junior, successfully defended her women’s individual crown at the Iowa Conference Cross Country Championships over the weekend. Dobyns, who also finished fourth as a freshman in 2005, traversed the 6,000-meter course in 22:10, 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Angie Berry of Central. The Norse won their IIAC-best 11th title and their fourth crown in five years. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Volleyball – Ashley Rogers, Wartburg College, Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert
Rogers, a senior middle hitter, moved over the 2,000-kill mark for her career and broke former All-American Dia Dohlman’s single-season kill record at the Trinity University National Invitational where she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Rogers has posted double-figures in kills in 23 straight matches. In five matches during the week, Rogers posted 80 kills (4.0/game), 63 digs (3.15/game), and 23 total blocks. She has been named to the All-Tournament Team in all five tournaments for Wartburg.

Women’s Soccer – Katee Whitney, Loras College, Aloha, Ore./Valley Catholic
Whitney, a senior midfielder, accounted for both goals in Loras’ 2-1 victory at Luther Saturday. The first gave the Duhawks a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, while the second came with just nine seconds remaining in the second overtime. The win concluded a perfect conference season for Loras and gave the Duhawks the top seed in the IIAC Tournament.

Men’s Soccer – Trent Michael, Wartburg College, Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale
Michael, a sophomore goalkeeper, ended the week with four wins and a 0.00 goals-against average in over 327 minutes in net for the Knights. He posted complete-game shutouts over UW-Platteville (3-0) and regional power Elmhurst (3-0) and shared shutout wins over IIAC foes Dubuque (3-0) and Simpson (5-0), dropping his season goals-against average to 0.54. Michael has been part Wartburg’s current string of 11 straight wins and seven straight shutouts.

Men’s Cross Country – Matthew Busche, Luther College, Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa
Busche, a senior, captured the men’s individual title at the Iowa Conference Cross Country Championships. A sixth-place finisher each of the past two years, Busche won the 8,000-meter men’s race in a time of 25:31, 10 seconds better than defending IIAC Champion Ben Grant of Loras. Busche also led the Norse to their second straight and 29th overall team title.

Men’s Swimming and Diving – Alex Eganhouse, Luther College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington
Eganhouse, a senior, broke the Luther school and pool record for five voluntary dives with a point total of 200.75 in the Norse’s dual win over Saint Mary’s (Minn.). Eganhouse also posted a 277.55 point total on the 1-meter in a dual win over Coe Saturday.

Women’s Swimming and Diving – Rachel Bruns, Luther College, Albany, Minn./Albany
Bruns, a freshman, won the 50 free (25.73) and swam as part of the winning 200 medley relay (1:57.61) as the Norse posted a season-opening 142-59 dual win over Saint Mary’s (Minn.). Bruns followed that performance up with wins in the 50 free (25.85) and 100 free (56.43) and as part of the winning 200 free relay (1:44.85) during a triangular with Simpson at Coe.

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

Football – Central College senior quarterback Tim Connell (Eldora, Iowa/Eldora-New Providence) threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns in the Dutch’s 40-14 win over Cornell. Connell completed 20 of 35 passes, recording the fourth-highest single-game passing yardage total in Central history. He also broke Central’s single-season records for touchdown passes (25), passing yardage (2,236), and total offense (2,327) during the contest and also made one solo tackle.

Football – Coe College senior wide receiver/defensive back/kick returner Tom Breitbach (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) contributed in all three phases of the game in Coe’s 24-17 win over Luther. Breitbach caught three balls for 41 yards on offense, made ten total tackles (5 solo, 2.5 for loss) and broke up a pass on defense, and returned three kickoffs for 90 yards and blocked his first career kick on special teams.

Football – Wartburg College tailback Neil Suckow (Fredericksburg, Iowa/Fredericksburg) scored four touchdowns in Wartburg’s 41-5 win over Simpson Oct. 27, tallying 141 all-purpose yards. Suckow rushed ten times for 43 yards and two touchdowns, caught six balls for 85 yards and two scores, and returned one kickoff for 13 yards.

Volleyball – Simpson College sophomore setter Tara Christensen (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) recorded 191 assists as the Storm posted a 2-3 record during the week. Christensen registered assist/dig double-doubles in matches against Stevens Tech (42 asst., 10 digs), UW-Platteville (35 asst., 12 digs), and UW-Whitewater (26 asst., 11 digs).

Women’s Swimming and Diving – Coe College diver Colleen Fowler (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) recorded the second-best 1-meter diving score (six dives) in school history (252.1), as well as the fourth-best 3-meter diving score (six dives) in school history (244.2). Both were career-highs for Fowler.

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