ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced their Athlete of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s track & field. The awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications staff and selected each week by the latter group.
BASEBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Bryan Gerbers, Sophomore, Crown Polars
De Pere, Wis. / De Pere
- Gerbers hit 3 home runs, totaled 9 RBI, and led Crown to a series sweep of UW-Superior.
BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Vondracek, Senior, Crown Polars
Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Hibbing Community College
- Vondracek pitched 7 innings, striking out 9 batters and earning the win against UW-Superior allowing just one earned run.
SOFTBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Bryn Anderson, Freshman, Northwestern Eagles
Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson
- Anderson is continuing to make an impact for the Eagles in her freshman season. This weekend, she went 6-7 at the plate and tallied 7 RBI while stealing 2 bases and scoring twice. For the second time in her career, she hit a 2 RBI home run. Behind the plate, Anderson recorded 18 putouts.
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Emily Meyer, Sophomore, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Swea City, Iowa / North Union
- Meyer tossed six scoreless innings this weekend and picked up a pair of wins for Bethany to improve to 11-8 on the year. She allowed just one walk and one hit in the two games, striking out 16 of the 20 batters she faced.
MEN’S TENNIS NORTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Carson Haack, Sophomore, Northwestern Eagles
Elk River, Minn. / Elk River
- Haack was the lone Eagle to go 2-0 against Wartburg on Wednesday, doing so from the most difficult position. The sophomore won his No. 1 singles match 7-5, 6-2 before teaming up with Sam Majerus for a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles. He is heating up at the right time, having won 4 consecutive singles matches.
WOMEN’S TENNIS NORTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Britney Prahl, Sophomore, Martin Luther Knights
New Ulm, Minn. / Litchfield
- Prahl had a nice performance for the Knights in two matches this week. Prahl was the only MLC player to record a point against Wartburg on Thursday, beating her No. 1 singles opponent 6-3, 6-3. The sophomore also won her No. 1 doubles 6-4 and No. 1 singles games 6-0, 6-4 against Minnesota Morris on Saturday, helping the Knights to a 4-3 win.
MEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Matthew Birchmeier, Graduate Student, Webster Gorloks
Swartz Creek, Mich. / Flushing
- Birchmeier was the standout for the Gorloks men's tennis team as he recorded two singles wins and was part of two doubles victories. In the match against Greenville, Birchmeier partnered with Ethan Foucheaux and shutout their opponents by the score of 6-0. In singles play, Birchmeier eliminated Colton Hulume in a three-set battle. In the match against Illinois College, Birchmeier partnered with Ethan Foucheaux and shutout their opponents by the score of 6-0. In singles play, Birchmeier allowed just three set victories and won the match 6-1 and 6-2.
WOMEN’S TENNIS SOUTH DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Saray Hernandez Cisneros, Junior, Principia Panthers
Puebla, Mexico / Centro Esc Niños Héroes de Chapultepec
- Hernandez Cisneros had a dominant week going 4-0 in her this matches at #1 singles and #1 doubles against MUW and Rose-Hulman. In singles play, she only dropped 2 games total (6-0,6-0 vs MUW and 6-1,6-1 vs RHIT).
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jesse Ortiz, Freshman, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Medford, Minn. / Medford
- Ortiz ended his weekend with a pair of PR's, seeing action at the Hamline Invite Saturday. He took third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.96 seconds, ranking him 17th in the north region. Ortiz also raced in the 200-meter dash, garnering a finish of 21.62 seconds for fourth place. This finish ranks him 35th in all of NCAA Division III while ranking third in the north region.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Catelyn Ketterling, Freshman, North Central Rams
Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount
- Catelyn showed out at the Hamline Invite, breaking NCU’s 100m dash record and finishing top ten in both her events. She now leads the UMAC in the 100m with a blazing time of 12.94 seconds. She sits in 4th place in the 200m with a time of 26.78 seconds.
MEN’S OUTDOOR FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Earl Foster, Senior, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Forest Lake, Minn. / Spectrum
- Foster won the javelin throw at the Ashton May Invitational Saturday, hosted by UW-La Crosse. He finished with a heave of 55.30 meters, leading throwers of all NCAA Divisions seeing action at the meet. This toss ranks Foster 39th overall in NCAA Division III, while ranking second in the north region.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Emily Ashton, Junior, Northwestern Eagles
Camas, Wash. / St. Mary's Academy
- For the second week in a row, Emily Ashton threw a top 51st distance in the Javelin. Her throw of 36.21 meters won the event at the Hamline Invitational and moved her to the top of the conference. Ashton also threw the discus a distance of 25.01 meters, placing her 30th.
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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