ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced its Player of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field for the week of April 22-28, 2024. The UMAC Player of the Week awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications/sports information staff and selected each week by the latter group.
BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Howie Hatton,
Graduate Student, Crown College
North Riverside, Ill. / Concordia University Chicago
- Hatton dominated at the plate going 11-19 (.579) over the week totaling 12 RBI, 11 runs, four home runs, two doubles, one triple, and two walks.
- Defensively he totaled 24 putouts in five contests.
SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samantha Swartz, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Superior
Antigo, Wis. / Antigo
- Swartz had a strong week, going 8-12 (.667) with four RBIs and eight runs scored aiding the 'Jackets go 4-1 in UMAC play.
- In the first two games versus Martin Luther, she went a perfect 5-5 with four RBI while also grabbing two victories in the circle, helping UWS sweep the Knights.
BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Drew Hedtke, Sophomore, Bethany Lutheran College
Norwood Young America / Glencoe-Silver Lake
- Hedtke put forth another masterful performance on the mound for Bethany Saturday, tossing a one-hit shutout in the Vikings seven inning win over Minnesota Morris.
- He struck out six batters in the matchup and has now went at least seven innings in four of his last five starts.
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ireland Strubbe, Sophomore, University of Northwestern
Chandler, Ariz. / Valley Christian
- Strubbe went 2-0 in the circle this week, picking up wins against two UMAC postseason teams.
- Went 13 innings and picked up 13 strikeouts.
- Her best performance of the week was a six innings, complete game against Superior where she struck out five and only gave up four hits and one run.
MEN’S TENNIS NORTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jacob Weddle, Junior, University of Northwestern
Rhinelander, Wis. / Rhinelander
- Weddle had a busy week, earning six wins across singles and doubles.
- The junior's week was highlighted by going 2-0 vs. Macalester (6-3, 6-1 at #2 singles and 8-6 at #1 doubles) and 2-0 vs. St. John's (7-5, 4-6, 10-3 at #1 singles and 8-4 at #1 doubles).
- Weddle filled in at #1 singles for the back half of the week and didn't miss a beat, going 2-1 in the top spot.
WOMEN’S TENNIS NORTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Annie Orvis, Junior, University of Northwestern
Rochester, Minn. / Schaeffer Academy
- Orvis was lights out as the captain led the Eagles to a pair of 9-0 sweeps at Minnesota Morris and Martin Luther to claim a spot in the UMAC Tournament.
- At Morris, she won 6-4, 6-1 at #1 singles and 8-6 at #1 doubles. Saturday in a win-and-in match at MLC, the junior won 6-3, 6-0 at #1 singles and 8-2 at #1 doubles.
MEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ignacio Zamora, Freshman, Principia College
La Paz, Bolivia
- Ignacio went 3-0 in the UMAC South Tournament and clinched the winning point of the division championship with a huge #4 singles win over Greenville in 3 sets (6-3,3-6,7-5).
- He also won his two doubles matches 8-0 and 8-4.
WOMEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mafe Quintero, Freshman, Principia College
Bogotá, Colombia / Colegio RR Oblatas al Divino Amor
- Mafe had a strong UMAC South Tournament, going 4-0 at #2 singles (6-0,6-0 vs MUW and 7-5,6-1 vs GU) and #2 doubles (8-0 vs MUW and 8-3 vs GU) to help lead Principia to the division championship.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jah'Kiing Joseph, Freshman, University of Northwestern
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / Heritage
- Joseph ran his first ever collegiate outdoor 400M Dash this weekend and finished at 51.20 seconds, placing him at the top of the UMAC rankings heading into this weekend's championships.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Halle Barker, Junior, University of Wisconsin-Superior
Superior, Wis. / Superior Senior
- Barker participated in the Rider/Bolstorff Invite last week, and she continued to post faster races in the 5,000-meter race.
- This time she finished with a time of 18:36.11, which leads the conference by nearly a full minute.
MEN’S OUTDOOR FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Nate Ohman, Senior, University of Wisconsin-Superior
Lake Nebagamon, Wis. / Northwestern
- The UMAC Scholar-Athlete recipient once again showcased a strong weekend at the Rider/Bolstorff Invite.
- He finished third in the discus (38.48 meters), second in the shot put (14.97 meters) and grabbed first place in the hammer throw (52.61 meters).
- Ohman's heave in the discus moves him into fourth on the UMAC honor roll, while his hammer throw extends his current conference lead by 6.3 meters.
- His performance in the hammer throw also saw him move to second place on the all-time list for the Yellowjackets.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Stephanie Witbrod, Junior, Bethany Lutheran College
Douglas, Wyo. / Douglas
- Witbrod had a busy week for the Vikings, doing a multitude of events.
- She competed at the Drake Relays in the Heptathalon, setting new school records in the javelin and the shot put with marks of 35.16m and 12.26m, respectively.
- She also set a new season best in the high jump with a mark of 1.46m while posting a long jump of 4.97m.