September 15, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Loras College women’s soccer player Torey Murray (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) and Loras College football player Ben McMahon (Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, September 14. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s eight sports in competition over the weekend.

Women’s Soccer – Torey Murray, Loras College, Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln
Murray, a senior goalkeeper, made eight saves en route to 1-0 shutout of No. 1 and two-time defending national champion Wheaton (Ill.). With the win, the Duhawks snapped the Thunder’s 48-match winning streak. It was the first time the Thunder had been shutout since the opening game of the 2004 season. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Football – Ben McMahon, Loras College, Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus
McMahon, a senior wide receiver, caught six passes for a career-high 140 yards and three touchdowns (29, 24, and 55 yards) in Loras’ road win over Millikin Sept. 13. The win upped the Duhawks’ record to 1-1 and snapped an eight-game losing streak. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Men’s Cross Country – Brian Chenoweth, Wartburg College, Geneseo, Ill./J.D. Darnall
Chenoweth, a senior, placed second in a field of 361 runners at the Les Duke Invitational. He traversed the 8-kilometer layout at Oakland Hills in Grinnell in 25:37, just three seconds behind champion Stephen Dak of Iowa Central. Chenoweth, the top IIAC finisher at the meet, led Wartburg to a 10th-place team finish with 269 points.

Women’s Cross Country – Anna Kraayenbrink, Wartburg College, Sioux Center, Iowa/Sioux Center
Kraayenbrink, a junior, placed second in a field of 328 runners at the Les Duke Invitational. She completed the 6-kilometer course in 22:38, 30 seconds behind the race-winner. The top IIAC finisher at the race, Kraayenbrink led Wartburg to the team title with 104 points.

Volleyball – Kristin Paczosa, Cornell College, Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove
Paczosa, a junior outside hitter, led the Rams to a 4-0 record in taking the team championship at the Beloit Buc Blast Sept. 13-14. The Rams outlasted Monmouth in five games in the title match, avenging a home loss to the Fighting Scots three days earlier. Paczosa totaled 59 kills (3.69 kills/set) with a .375 attack percentage in the tournament.

Women’s Tennis – Alana Humpal, Luther College, Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain
Humpal, a senior, helped lead Luther to a record of 4-0 this week by posting a 7-1 record. She was 3-1 at No. 1 singles and paired with Katie Nichols for four wins at No. 1 doubles.

Women’s Golf – Nicole Wenstrand, Central College, Essex, Iowa/Shenandoah
Wenstrand, a sophomore, captured medalist honors at the Central Fall Invitational by firing an 85 to best the field by a stroke. She led the Dutch to the team title at the event with a 359 total.

Men’s Soccer – Nicholas Cookston, University of Dubuque, Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Lutheran
Cookston, a senior forward/midfielder, scored three goals and three assists as the Spartans posted shutout wins over Rockford College (5-0) and Maranatha Baptist Bible College (4-0) last week. He recorded the game-winner against Rockford.

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

• Women’s Cross Country – Loras College senior Mary Bridget Corkin (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert) placed fifth at the Les Duke Invitational, finishing in 22:50, 42 seconds behind the winner. She led Loras to an IIAC-best 6th-place team finish with 198 points.

• Women’s Cross Country – Luther College senior Janet Dobyns (Iowa City, Iowa/West) placed second at the Luther All-American Invitational, completing the 5-kilometer course in 18:21, 23 seconds behind the race-winner. Luther took second at the meet with 36 points.

• Men’s Cross Country – Luther College senior David McKay (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City) placed fifth in a field of 115 runners at the Luther All-American Invitational. He completed the 4-mile course in 21:34, 43 seconds behind the race-winner. McKay paced the Norse to a 3rd-place finish with 76 points.

• Women’s Golf – Luther College senior Emily Looft (South Lake, Texas/Carroll) tied for 15th place in a field of 98 golfers at the Division III Midwest Classic hosted by Carleton College. She shot 88-82—170 to finish 13 strokes behind the meet medalist. Looft, the top IIAC individual finisher, led Luther to a 7th-place finish (363-342—705) in a field containing No. 3 Gustavus Adolphus, No. 7 St. Thomas (Minn.), No. 12 Wartburg, No. 14 UW-Eau Claire, No. 23 Carleton, and No. 25 Macalester.

• Women’s Tennis – Cornell College senior Pavla Brachova (Ames, Iowa/Ames) went 8-0 during the week (4-0 each at No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles), dropping only one set to Shadi Soleymani of University of South Dakota, a provisional NCAA Division I program.

• Women’s Tennis – Coe College junior Hillary Allen (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) went 3-0 in singles, picking up wins at the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 positions. She teamed with Megan Fiala for a 3-0 record at No. 2 doubles. With her play last week, she improved to 9-0 on the year in singles and 8-1 at No. 2 doubles with Megan Fiala.

• Football – Coe College junior linebacker Tate Harrison (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada) recorded 13 tackles, including eight solo stops, in a 27-19 loss to Gustavus Adolphus. He also had a sack and three tackles for loss while adding a pass break-up and two quarterback hurries. Harrison now leads the team through two games with 28 tackles.

• Women’s Soccer – Cornell College sophomore forward Leanne Carberry (Idledale, Colo./Bear Creek) tallied four goals – including two game-winners – and one assist in leading the Rams to shutout wins over Mount Mercy (3-0) and Knox (8-0). She leads the team with 12 points (5 goals and 2 assists) and has accounted for all three of Cornell’s game-winning goals this season.

• Men’s Soccer – Wartburg College junior goalkeeper Trent Michael (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) recorded his second shutout of the season, holding Macalester scoreless in 2-0 win Sept. 13. He hasn’t allowed a goal in his last 203 minutes, 43 seconds.

• Men’s Soccer – Loras College junior defender Nate Minkel (Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown) scored the game-winning goal by heading in a corner kick and helped preserve a shutout from his defensive position in the Duhawks’ 1-0 win over Wheaton (Ill.) Sept. 13.

• Volleyball – Wartburg College senior outside hitter Kelsey Steffens (DeWitt, Iowa/Central Clinton) became the ninth member of Wartburg’s 1,000-kill club during the Wartburg Invitational. Steffens moved into seventh place on the school’s all-time list with 1,038 kills. She was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Knights to a 2-2 record and posting team-highs in kills, attack percentage, and ace serves.

• Volleyball – Buena Vista University sophomore middle hitter Katie Vondrak (Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan) posted a career-high 25 kills and finished with a hitting percentage of .476 during a 3-1 victory over Mount Marty Sept. 13. She also posted 10+ kills and posted attack percentages of over .400 in three-set losses to Cornell and Briar Cliff.

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