ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's cross country. The awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications staff and selected each week by the latter group.
FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Caden Cantrell, Junior, Northwestern Eagles
Snowflake, Ariz. / Snowflake
- Cantrell had a perfect Saturday afternoon, completing all 11 of his pass attempts for 258 yards and a program-record 6 passing touchdowns. The junior now owns the single-game passing yards and passing touchdowns records at Northwestern.
FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Andrew Esmay, Junior, Martin Luther Knights
Temple, Texas / Luther Prep
- Esmay made many impact plays rushing the Minnesota Morris quarterbacks, forcing the Cougars into difficult situations on the field. The junior finished with six tackles (3.5 TFL), 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Esmay catapulted an MLC defense that forced five turnovers in a 21-14 victory against Minnesota Morris.
FOOTBALL SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Juan "JT" Garza III, Sophomore, Minnesota Morris Cougars
Rupert, Idaho / Minico
- Garza blocked two kicks this past weekend for the Cougars. He also totaled up 60 punt yards over the weekend, in addition to forcing a fumble for the offense and completing multiple tackles.
VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Makenna Hohbein, Freshman, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Holdingford, Minn. / Holdingford
- Hohbein swung at a .414 clip last week, ending with 14 kills versus Northwestern and a career-high 21 kills against North Central. She ranks second in points and kills on the Yellowjacket leaderboard while sitting in the top 15 of kills and points in the UMAC.
VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE WEEK
Abby Distad, Freshman, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Kasson, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville
- Distad had a big week as the quarterback of the Bethany attack, posting 116 assists over a three-game span. She set a new career-best with 41 set assists on Tuesday night before one-upping that with 45 in a three-set win over Crown Saturday.
VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Marley Aune, Junior, Northwestern Eagles
New Brighton, Minn. / Avail Academy
- Marley Aune had an incredible weekend in the Eagles’ wins against Superior and North Central. Against Superior, she had 10 blocks with 3 solos averaging 3.33 blocks per set, adding a .316 hitting percentage on 9 kills as well. In the 6 sets played this past weekend, Aune had 14 blocks, 13 kills, 3 digs, and 1 ace.
MEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Aaron Hill, Senior, Northwestern Eagles
New Brighton, Minn. / Mounds View
- Hill had a terrific week in a pair of wins for UNW. The senior assisted on the go-ahead goal in the 78th minute against Martin Luther and then scored an insurance goal himself in the 88th. On Saturday, Hill added two more goals in a 4-1 Homecoming win over Minnesota Morris.
MEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Zach Tiemeyer, Senior, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Waunakee, Wis. / Waunakee Community
- Tiemeyer has been a staple in the Yellowjacket defense this season, aiding the backline's efforts of not allowing a single goal versus UMAC opponents. He even showcased his offensive skills, scoring two goals in a 6-0 victory over Martin Luther last week.
WOMEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Haley Mersberger, Junior, Northwestern Eagles
Kiel, Wis. / Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah
- Mersberger was up to her usual tricks this week scoring 3 goals and tallying 2 assists in a pair of wins. She assisted on the opening goal and scored the final goal in Northwestern's win against Martin Luther on Wednesday. In Saturday's win over Minnesota Morris, Haley added 2 more goals and 1 assist.
WOMEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Arayah Baker, Sophomore, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Andover, Minn. / Andover
- Baker had a great week for the Vikings this week as they went 1-0-1. She first saved all seven shots faced in a 2-0 win over Crown on Wednesday before helping the Vikings to a 1-1 draw with St. Scholastica on Sunday by making 11 saves including a few on breakaway 1-on-1 situations.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Zach Reese, Junior, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Zimmerman, Minn. / Spectrum
- Reese saw action at the Blugold Invite last week, placing 63rd overall and 47th across all NCAA Division III athletes at the meet with a 26:31.5. This mark was the top time for any UMAC runner in competition this weekend. Furthermore, this race time lands Reese in 16th place on the all-time 8k list at UW-Superior.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ella Dufault, Sophomore, Crown Polars
Waseca, Minn. / Waseca
- Dufault took the 31st spot at the 6k Running of the Cows with a time of 23:32.6 to lead the Crown runners.
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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