ST. PAUL -- Week 3 of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference's (UMAC) Player of the Week awards showed some new faces. Of the 13 awards distributed this week, 10 of them are first time winners in 2011, several of which have never been named the player of the week ever.
FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
QB Alex Thiry, College of St. Scholastica
After fighting off some medical issues for the past week and a half, Alex Thiry entered Saturday's game against Greenville in the third series and proceeded to throw for 292 yards and three first half touchdowns as the Saints built up an insurmountable lead to hand Greenville its first UMAC loss.
FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
S Mike Minehan, Eureka College
In Saturday's 23-6 win over Crown, Mike Minehan had 15 tackles, one of which was for a loss, and one pass break-up. His 15 tackles were a game-high and led all Red Devils for the second consecutive game.
FOOTBALL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
P Jordan Jefferson, Eureka College
Jordan Jefferson had six punts for 247 yards in Saturday's game against Crown, averaging 41.2 yards per punt. Jefferson's longest punt on the day was 56 yards and the junior landed two punts inside the 20-yard line. His punting helped Eureka control the field position battle throughout the second half, and his final punt of the afternoon traveled 47 yards to pin Crown to its own 2-yard line.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Tony Bye, College of St. Scholastica
In a field filled with NCAA Division II programs and ranked Division III teams, Tony Bye led St. Scholastica with a 59th place finish at Saturday St. Olaf Invitational after crossing the finish line in 28:01. As a team, the Saints placed 11th overall.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Kristen Gronbeck, College of St. Scholastica
In a strong field, containing ranked NCAA Division III schools and Division II program, St. Scholastica's Kristen Gronbeck led the Saints with a 60th place finish on Saturday at the St. Olaf Invitational, running the course in 24:44.
MEN'S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
Jonathan Pederson, Bethany Lutheran College
Bethany Lutheran's Jonathan Pederson claimed medalist honors two times last week with scores of 77 and 74 at the Northwestern Invitational and in a dual match between the Vikings and Martin Luther College.
MEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
F Kyle Farrar, College of St. Scholastica
In three St. Scholastica victories last week, Kyle Farrar netted four goals on 16 shots to go with three assists for 11 points.
MEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GK Tyler Weber, University of Minnesota Morris
Tyler Weber continued his impressive start to the season, charting his third and fourth shutouts of the season last weekend. Weber stopped all eight shots he saw, preserving a pair of 1-0 victories for Morris. In seven games this season, Weber has held the opponent off the board in over half of the them, and has logged four or more saves in all but one.
WOMEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
F Lauren Cleope, Northwestern College
Northwestern's Lauren Cleope scored five goals last week, including back-to-back two-goal performances against North Central and Minnesota Morris on Friday and Saturday. Cleope added a goal against Jamestown an assist in Friday's 4-0 win to earn 11 points on the week.
WOMEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
D Maggie Dolan, College of St. Scholastica
Maggie Dolan played center back for all 270 minutes of shutout soccer in St. Scholastica's three wins last week, allowing opponents to get just four shots on goal.
VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
OH Chelsea Koth, Northwestern College
Chelsea Koth went off for 52 kills in four three-set matches for Northwestern last week to go with a .321 attacking percentage. Koth led all players with 17 kills against Buena Vista and 15 against Carleton on Saturday.
VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MB Hannah Knott, University of Minnesota Morris
Hannah Knott finished Minnesota Morris' four games at the Blazer Invitational with 25 total blocks. Knott averaged 1.47 blocks per set, while playing all 17 sets in the weekend without making an error. She began the weekend with eight blocks in each of the Cougars two wins, including the 3-0 win over Simpson.
VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE WEEK
S Krista Stoltz, Northwestern College
Krista Stoltz earned all-tournament team honors at the Macalester College Invitational after posting 12.7 assists per set while Northwestern hit .277 as a team throughout its four 3-0 wins. Stoltz's personal hitting percentage of .368 gave Northwestern another attacking threat on the front line.