November 2, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Wartburg College cross country runner Anna Kraayenbrink (Sioux Center, Iowa/Sioux Center) and cornell College cross country runner Andrew Tobben (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, November 1. The Conference also announced the thirteen Performers of the Week in the Conference’s eight sports in competition during the previous week.

Women’s Cross Country – Anna Kraayenbrink, Wartburg College, Sioux Center, Iowa/Sioux Center
Kraayenbrink, a senior, captured the women’s individual title at the 2009 Iowa Conference Cross Country Championships, completing the 6,000-meter course in 22:49, 10 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. The third Wartburg woman to capture the individual title (Robyn Olson, Missy Buttry), she also led the Knights to their 11th league title. (IIAC Female Athlete of the Week)

Men’s Cross Country – Andrew Tobben, Cornell College, Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia
Tobben, a junior, became Cornell’s first Iowa Conference cross country champion, outdistancing the 146-man field by 10 seconds. He is the first Ram to claim a conference title in cross country since 1993, when Kelly Lear was crowned women's champion in the Midwest Conference. The last Cornell male runner to grab conference gold was Tony Every in 1990. Tobben completed the 8,000-meter course in 26:28, leading the Rams to a third-place team finish, the best for Cornell since joining the IIAC in 1997. (IIAC Male Athlete of the Week)

Football (offense) – Brad Boyle, Coe College, New Sharon, Iowa/North Mahaska
Boyle, a sophomore quarterback, threw for over 300 yards for the third time this season, leading the Kohawks to a 38-13 victory at Loras. He completed 25 of 38 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed 13 times for 17 yards and a score.

Football (defense) – Kyle McGivney, Luther College, Apple River, Ill./Warren
McGivney, a junior linebacker, was credited with 23 tackles (11 solo), plus one forced fumble in a 24-9 loss to Wartburg. His 23 tackles were a single-game career high.

Football (special teams) – Kurtis Brondyke, Central College, Clinton, Iowa/Clinton
Brondyke, a junior punter/kickoff specialist, hit a career-long 78 yard punt in a 17-0 win over Buena Vista. He averaged 49.4 yards per punt, increasing his school career record for punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line to 53. He also average 57.8 yards per kickoff and assisted on a tackle.

Volleyball (hitter) – Britlyn Sieck, Wartburg College, West Union, Iowa/North Fayette
Sieck, a freshman outside hitter, was named to the all-tournament team at Illinois Wesleyan’s Barker Chevrolet Classic III as she helped the Knights to a 3-1 record. With 88 kills during the week, she surpassed 400 kills for the season – the first Wartburg freshman outside hitter to do so since former standout Ashley Rodgers did so in 2003. She has a streak of five straight matches with double-digit kills.

Volleyball (libero/DS) – Brittany Friesth, Simpson College, Adel, Iowa/Adel-DeSoto-Minburn
Friesth, a senior libero, averaged 5.29 digs per set as the Storm went 2-3 during the week. She totaled 111 kills, registering double-digit digs in each match and surpassing 30 in a five-set win at Wartburg (32) and a four-set loss to Carthage (34).

Men’s Soccer (offense) – Miguel Bonilla, Loras College, Cali, Colombia/Colegio Bolivar
Bonilla, a junior forward, scored three goals during the week in wins over Clarke (2-1) and Simpson (3-1). He scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute against Clarke and then added two more against the Storm.

Men’s Soccer (defense) – Steve O’Meara, Luther College, Darien, Ill./Hinsdale
O’Meara, a sophomore goalkeeper, tallied six saves in a 1-0 overtime victory over Coe, including two at point blank range late in regulation. The shutout was his seventh of the year.

Women’s Soccer (offense) – Maria Szakos, Univ. of Dubuque, Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville
Szakos, a freshman forward, scored two goals and an assist in a 7-2 win at Cornell Oct. 31 to secure a school-best runner-up finish in the final IIAC standings for the Spartans

Women’s Soccer (defense) – Megan Peterson, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa/Indianola
Peterson, a freshman goalkeeper, grabbed 14 saves in Saturday’s double-overtime loss to Loras, making a number of difficult saves. The 14 saves is the most for a Simpson goalkeeper in a single game since 2006 and ties for the second-most amount of saves in a game in program history.

Men’s Swimming & Diving – Josiah Collins, Luther College, Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd
Collins, a senior, won the 200 freestyle (1:49.15) and 500 freestyle (5:04.10) in a double dual sweep of Morningside (58-35) and Simpson (56-28).

Women’s Swimming & Diving – Elise DesRoches, Luther College, Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata
DesRoches, a junior, won the 5-dive optional (169.58) and 6-dive voluntary (256.94) 1-meter diving competitions in a double dual sweep of Morningside (77-28) and Simpson (81-24).

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

• Football – Simpson junior running back Jake Rissi (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) ran for 131 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown in Simpson’s 17-16 win over Cornell. Normally a tight end and fullback, Rissi filled in at tailback due to injuries and became the third Simpson back this season to rush for over 100 yards in a game. Trailing 16-10 early in the third quarter, he broke off a 73-yard touchdown run. The run tied for the third-longest in school history and is the longest run from scrimmage in the Iowa Conference this season.

• Football – Wartburg junior defensive back Andrew Creary (Knoxville, Iowa/Knoxville) turned in two interceptions in a 24-9 win at Luther, including one he returned 99 yards for a touchdown in the first half. The interception return for a score ranks among one of the longest in program history and helped the Knights gain momentum for their 18th win in the last 19 outings against the rival Norse. Also posted eight tackles (two solo).

• Football – Central sophomore defensive lineman Brady Hill (Carroll, Iowa/Kuemper Catholic) picked up 2.5 of the Dutch’s five quarterback sacks in a 17-0 win over Buena Vista. He also totaled six tackles (two solo) with 3.0 tackles for loss.

• Volleyball – Cornell junior setter Hannah Boehmer (Riverside, Iowa/Mid-Prairie) topped the 1,000-assist mark for the second consecutive season in leading the Rams to their seventh consecutive victory, a 3-0 home sweep over Loras. Boehmer has 1,012 assist this fall after setting the single-season school mark with 1,118 in 2008.

• Volleyball – Luther sophomore outside hitter Emily Cory (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) tallied 29 kills in wins over Coe (3-0) and Waldorf (3-1) while helping the Norse to their best record (24-10) since 1995.

• Men’s Soccer – Dubuque freshman defender/midfielder Sam McKee (Algonquin, Ill./Harry D. Jacobs) registered one goal and two assists as the Spartans locked up second place in the IIAC standings with a 4-0 win at Cornell.

• Men’s Soccer – Wartburg senior midfielder Geoff Miller (St. Louis, Mo./University) produced his first multiple-goal game since October 2008 as the Knights posted their seventh victory in eight matches with a 4-3 win over Grinnell. His second goal – the game-winner – was a penalty kick in overtime.

• Women’s Soccer – Loras junior midfielder Lisa Waltz (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) tallied two goals and an assist during the week, including the only goal in a 1-0 double-overtime victory at Simpson in the Duhawks’ regular season finale.

• Women’s Soccer – Luther sophomore forward Kendra Ledel (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Coe Oct. 31 to help the Norse secure their first Iowa Conference title since 2004.

• Women’s Soccer – Luther junior goalkeeper Hannah Wright (West St. Paul, Minn./Mounds Park Academy) posted her eighth consecutive shutout while making four saves in a 1-0 victory over Coe. She has not allowed a goal in her last 769 minutes in goal.

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