May 6, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Simpson College track athlete Lauren Bucklin (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) and Luther College tennis player Scott Sundstrom (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and Wartburg College golfer Chris Reck (Winthrop, Iowa/East Buchanan) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, May 3. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for the six sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Lauren Bucklin, Simpson College, Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar
Bucklin, a junior, automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 100 hurdles and provisionally qualified in the 400 hurdles with her efforts at the Central Open May 2. Her 100 hurdle time of 14.09 is the best ever posted by an Iowa Conference hurdler and currently leads the nation. Bucklin’s time in the 400 hurdles is a personal best and currently leads the Iowa Conference. She also ran on a runner-up 4x100 relay that posted a season-best time. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Men’s Tennis – Scott Sundstrom, Luther College, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial
Sundstrom, a freshman, won the Flight A singles title at the 2009 Iowa Conference Men’s Tennis Championship without dropping a set. In four matches, he dropped only six points. Sundstrom also registered a 7-6 (5), 6-0 win at No. 1 singles over Coe’s Ryan King in the championship match of the team tournament to help lead the Norse to a third consecutive IIAC title. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Men’s Golf – Chris Reck, Wartburg College, Winthrop, Iowa/East Buchanan
Reck, a freshman, captured medalist honors at the 2009 Iowa Conference Men’s Golf Championship (78-70-76-73—297), becoming the first freshman since Luther’s Scott Theriault in 2000 to capture medalist honors. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Baseball – Nick Olberding, Loras College, Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman
Olberding, a senior shortstop, ran his hitting to 19 games while helping Loras to its first Iowa Conference title since 1952. Olberding hit safely in 20 of 22 Iowa Conference games and 30 of 37 games overall. He hit .600 with 12 hits, nine RBI, and three home runs as the Duhawks went 3-1. Olberding went the entire month of April without being hitless. He led the IIAC in hits, runs, RBI, and home runs. Olberding also recently broke the 11-year old Loras record for hits set by Justin Pierro in 1998.

Softball – Sonja Schwenker, Coe College, Burlington, Iowa/Burlington
Schwenker, a senior outfielder/pitcher, went 5-for-9 in the Iowa Conference Tournament with two doubles and a home run. She earned two wins in the circle and a save in the third while striking out 13 as Coe won its first Iowa Conference Softball Tournament.

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Kurtis Brondyke, Central College, Clinton, Iowa/Clinton
Brondyke, a sophomore, won the decathlon at the Iowa Conference Multi-Event Championships with a career-best and NCAA provisional total of 6,491 points. His effort ranks seventh in Division III.

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

• Baseball – Luther College freshman infielder Chris Reynolds (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) hit .688 with 10 RBI as the Norse posted four wins and claimed a share of the Iowa Conference championship. Of his 11 hits during the week, one was a grand slam in the second game of a season-ending weekend series with Dubuque.

• Baseball – Central College senior first baseman Derek Knutson (Richland, Wash./Yorkville [Ill.]) hit. 400 with six hits, seven RBI, a double, two home runs, and six runs scored as the Dutch posted three wins in four conference road games to close his collegiate career. In the opening game of a three-game, season-ending weekend series with Wartburg, he was 2-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI.

• Men’s Tennis – The Coe College No. 1 doubles team of Elliot Rausa (So., Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus) and Sam Zerbib (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia) won the Flight A doubles title at the 2009 Iowa Conference Championships, defeating Luther’s Utsab Rijal and Thomas Orser 8-5 in the final. The duo also posted two wins at No. 1 doubles during the team portion of the tournament.

• Men’s Golf – Luther College sophomore Paul Soener (Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt) finished second at the Iowa Conference Men’s Golf Championship (73-73-74-77—297), falling to individual champion Chris Reck of Wartburg in a playoff. Soener entered the weekend with the individual lead.

• Men’s Golf – Central College sophomore Jason Harvey (Goldfield, Iowa/Clarion-Goldfield) posted the field’s lowest 36-hole score on the second weekend of the 2009 Iowa Conference Men’s Golf Championship. He fired a 2-over-par 73 at Indianola May 1, then concluded the championship with a 1-under-par 70. He lost a teammate Justin Smool in a playoff for eighth place.

• Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Central College junior Carissa Bentz (Ute, Iowa/Boyer Valley) won the heptathlon at the Iowa Conference Multi-Event Championships with a career-best and NCAA provisional point total of 4,419.

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