ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced their Athlete of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s tennis. The awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications staff and selected each week by the latter group.
BASEBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Xander Meissner, Freshman, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Parker, Colo. / Legend
- Meissner continues his impressive start for Bethany, as he was 9-for-17 on the week while also drawing five walks for an OBP of .636. Where the freshman really stood out was with his power as five of his nine hits went for extra bases as he had three doubles and a pair of home runs, while driving in 11 total runs on the week.
BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sean Gamble, Junior, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Denton, Texas / MSU-Mankato
- In both of Bethany's wins last week Gamble took to the mound, as he recorded a win and a save in his two appearances. He tossed seven total innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out 10 in a pair of 10-run rule victories for the Vikings.
SOFTBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Mikayla Gee, Senior, Northwestern Eagles
Rochester, Minn. / John Marshall
- Gee has been a force at the plate over the 4 games this past week where UNW has gone 3-1. In 13 at-bats, Gee has gotten 11 hits for an impressive .846 batting average. After this efficient week, she now leads the UMAC in batting average with .571 overall and is tied for second in on-base percentage. The senior has also successfully stolen 3 bases on 3 attempts. In the field she has recorded 10 putouts with 4 assists.
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Bella Garley, Sophomore, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Albuquerque, N.M. / Porter (Tex.)
- Garley grabbed a pair of wins inside the circle for the Yellowjackets. Opening their spring trip at the Gene Cusic Collegiate, she threw five innings against Elms College surrendering just two hits and one run while striking out eight. The following day, Garley allowed just two runs and added three more K's under her belt to bring her record to 3-2.
MEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ernesto Botero, Junior, Principia Panthers
Cartagena, Colombia
- Botero was instrumental in Principia's win over Franklin College in their lone match of the week. Botero got that Panthers started off on the right foot with a dominant win at 1st Doubles to help secure the Doubles point for the Panthers. Him and partner Nacho Cachaza defeated their Franklin counterparts 6-1. In Singles, Botero was equally as dominant at the 3rd position, as he was first to finish his match, winning 6-1, 6-3. These wins helped to defeat Franklin 5-2, as Principia moved to 5-1 on the season.
WOMEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Irlanda Oliver, Sophomore, Greenville Panthers
Mexico City, Mexico / Colegio Carol Baur
- Oliver helped contribute to the Panthers win this week at the top spot in both singles and doubles. Oliver won at #1 singles 6-0, 6-3 and then led the #1 doubles pair to a 6-4 victory.
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.
Watch UMAC games on the
UMAC Sports Network: available on the
web, as a mobile app for
iOS and
Android, and as a TV app for
Apple TV,
Android TV,
Amazon Fire, and
Roku.