April 13, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that University of Dubuque softball player Rachel Gratz (Newark, Calif./Memorial) and baseball player Jesse Ramirez (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 12. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for the six sports in competition during the week.

Softball – Rachel Gratz, University of Dubuque, Newark, Calif./Memorial
Gratz, a freshman first baseman, hit .400 as the Spartans posted wins against No. 14-ranked Wis.-Whitewater (2008 Division III runner-up) and No. 6-ranked Central. The win against the Dutch was just the second in program history. The wins were also UD’s first against ranked teams since 2000 when the Spartans edged Central 2-1. Dubuque has 11 losses by two runs or less this season. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Baseball – Jesse Ramirez, University of Dubuque, Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe
Ramirez, a freshman catcher/outfielder, hit .611 with two home runs, 10 RBI, and two doubles in five games last week. He went 5-for-7 at the plate in a doubleheader split at Lawrence Tuesday before going 6-for-13 with two home runs as Dubuque went 2-1 in a weekend series at Central. In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader with the Dutch, Ramirez went 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, and five RBI. He has had at least one hit in 15 of 21 games this season, including 10 multiple-hit efforts. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Akeya Aimable, Wartburg College, Waterloo, Iowa/West
Aimable, a senior, set a school record and turned in a provisional national qualifying mark in the triple jump at Wis.-Platteville. Her jump of 38 feet, 4 ¼ is the fourth-longest in Division III. She ran on second-place 4x100 relays at the Jim Duncan Invitational (48.09) and the Wis.-Platteville Invitational (48.31) that were NCAA provisional marks as well.

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Eric Bertelsen, Buena Vista University, Polk City, Iowa/North Polk
Bertelsen, a senior, captured individual titles in the long jump (7.27m; 23-10 ¼) and 100-meter dash (10.9 seconds) and was the top collegiate finisher in 200 at the Jim Duncan Invitational. His 21.41 clocking in the 200 bettered his own NCAA provisional mark by .24 seconds and was second only to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andrew Rock (4x400 relay) who ran 21.32.

Men’s Tennis – Scott Sundstrom, Luther College, Lino Lake, Minn./Centennial
Sundstrom, a freshman, was 3-0 at No. 1 singles during Luther’s weekend trip to Texas where the Norse posted a 3-0 record over regionally ranked teams. He also went 3-0 at No. 3 doubles teaming with Mark Mateski.

Men’s Golf – Andy Petersen, Central College, Davenport, Iowa/West
Petersen, a senior, captured medalist honors in the 91-golfer field at the Wartburg Invitational. He fired rounds of 72 and 70 for a 2-under-par 142 and the 1-stroke victory.

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

• Baseball – Buena Vista University junior pitcher/outfielder Brandon Pietrzyk (Portland, Ore./Marshall) hit .462 with six hits, three RBI, and two runs scored while running his hitting streak to 21 games as the Beavers took two of three in a weekend end series at Coe. He went 3-for-5 with two RBI in Friday’s series opener and pitched five innings in the series finale, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out five. Pietrzyk improved his record on the mound to 4-0 in six starts this season.

• Baseball – Coe College freshman outfielder Adam Nisenson (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) notched his first two career home runs this weekend against ninth-ranked Buena Vista. He hit .545 in four games with a team-high six RBIs during the week and was perfect on nine chances in the field.

• Baseball – Wartburg College junior second baseman Steve Chamberlin (Center Point, Iowa/Center Point-Urbana) led the Knights to a weekend sweep of Cornell and into a tie for second place in the league standings. He finished the weekend with a 1.143 slugging percentage, two doubles, six hits, four runs scored and an .857 batting average. Chamberlin’s season batting average jumped over 100 points (.222-.346) during the series.

• Softball – Central College senior pitcher Megan Swingen (Woden, Iowa/Woden-Crystal Lake) hurled back-to-back 3-hit shutouts on the road in less than a 24-hour span. In games against Wartburg, Simpson, and Dubuque, she went 3-0 with 10 strikeouts and an 0.37 earned-run average.

• Softball – Coe College senior pitcher/outfielder Sonja Schwenker (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) contributed from all angles during the week, hitting two solo home runs in Saturday’s doubleheader with Simpson, as well as recording two wins in the circle and saves in Coe’s two other wins. She finished with 17 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings pitched.

• Softball – Wartburg College sophomore outfielder Tina Vande Hoef (Ocheyedan, Iowa/Sibley-Ocheyedan) hit .600 with 12 hits, 11 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, a home run and eight RBI as No. 6/15 Wartburg posted a 5-1 record last week. She reeled off four consecutive multiple-hit games in sweeps of North Central (Minn.) and Buena Vista.

• Men’s Tennis – Coe College senior Joey Lankelma (Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown) tallied a pair of wins as the Kohawks defeated Grinnell, the eighth-ranked team in the Central Region. Lankelma’s win at No. 3 doubles with Greg Janssen is their 20th of the season, matching last season’s total and moving them into fifth on the school’s career doubles list.

• Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Coe College freshman Keelie Finnel (Francis Creek, Wis./Mishicot) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a 57.4 clocking in the 400 at the Cornell Invitational. Her event-winning time ranks seventh nationally. Finnel also won the 200 (26.2 seconds) and ran on winning 4x100 (50.50) and 4x400 (4:07.3) relays to lead the Kohawks to a runner-up team finish.

• Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Central College sophomore Matt Graber (Newton, Iowa/Newton) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in the shot put with a third-place finish in the shot put at the Jim Duncan Invitational. His career-best toss of 51 feet, 6 ¼ inches placed him third behind a pair of throwers from Division I Iowa State.

• Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Loras College senior Matt Maloney (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) posted personal bests in the hammer throw, discus throw, and shot put at the Loras Mid-Week Invitational. He won the hammer throw with a Loras record heave of 170-5, was third in the discus (147-5) and 12th in the shot put (35-8 ¾).

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