ST. PAUL-- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced their Athlete of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball. The awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications staff and selected each week by the latter group.
Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Dylan Uitto, Jr, UW-Superior
Ashland, Wis./Ashland
Uitto was the top Yellowjacket finisher at this weekend's St. Olaf Invitational. He garnered a race time of 26:45.0 on the day while placing 49th individually.
Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Ella Dufault, Jr, Crown
Waseca, Minn./Waseca
Dufault placed 37
th at the St.Olaf Invite with her 6K time of 23:54.2.
Football Offensive Athlete of the Week
Jamarrius Courtney, So, Crown, QB
Minneapolis/Chaska
Courtney set the school record with 235 rushing yards. He totaled 4 touchdowns, 303 total yards, and led Crown to its first win of the season.
Football Defensive Athlete of the Week
Jakalyn Roy, Fr, Crown, DL
Lafayette, La./Carencro
Roy tallied 11 tackles with 7 solo, 3 tackles for loss, and 1 sack to lead the Crown defense to a win.
Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Devin Williams, So, Crown, RB/K
Osseo, Minn./Osseo
Williams made a 35-yard field goal and 3 PATs. He also totaled 6 kickoffs for 301 yards for an average of 50.2 yards/kick.
Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week
Shane Seiffert, Sr, Northwestern
Corcoran, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong
Seiffert earned medalist honors at the NCCAA North Central Regional early in the week, shooting -1 (73, 70) across two days of competition. His efforts also helped lead Northwestern to the team title, automatically qualifying them for next month's NCCAA National Championship. Later in the week, the senior shot a 73 (+1) on Friday and a 74 (+2) on Saturday at the Midwest Region Classic before inclement weather nullified Saturday's results, resulting in a 4th-place finish for the Eagles and a 27th-place finish for Seiffert among 45 teams and 246 players.
Women’s Golf Athlete of the Week
Paige Johnson, Jr, Northwestern
Zimmerman, Minn./Homeschool
Johnson tied the program record for low individual round on Friday at the Midwest Region Classic with an even-par 72. The score earned her medalist honors and helped Northwestern break its own program record for low team round, as well as win the team title in a loaded field of 39 teams when Mother Nature cut Saturday's final round short.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week
Ted Tendaie, Fr, Bethany Lutheran, F
Kinshasa, Dominican Republic of the Congo/Milo Adventist Academy
Tendaie helped Bethany open the UMAC season 2-0 with victories over UM-Morris (6-0) last Wednesday and Northwestern (4-1) on Saturday. At Morris, Tendaie scored a goal and assisted on another in just 36 minutes of action. Against Northwestern, Tendaie scored two goals and added an assist, again playing just 36 minutes, finishing his weekend with three goals and two assists.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week
Jamie van Wijland, Jr, Bethany Lutheran, D
Hoorn, Netherlands/ Oscar Romero
Jamie van Wijland helped Bethany begin UMAC play 2-0 with wins over UM-Morris (6-0) on Wednesday and Northwestern (4-1) on Saturday. van Wijland played all 90 minutes in both games, limiting UM-Morris to five total shots and just one on goal, and holding Northwestern to five total shots and just two on goal.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week
Kamryn Hill, Sr, UW-Superior, F
Duluth, Minn./Denfeld
Hill led the Yellowjackets' offensive efforts this past week. Against North Central she secured her second collegiate hat trick while finding the back of the net again versus Crown, spearheading Superior's 2-0 start to UMAC action.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week
Arayah Baker, Jr, Bethany Lutheran, GK
Andover, Minn./Andover
Baker posted two clean sheets to start UMAC play with a 0-0 tie at UM-Morris on Wednesday and a 2-0 win against Northwestern on Saturday. At Morris, she made four saves and against Northwestern she made 10, dropping her goals against average from 3.78 to 2.62 on the season.
Volleyball Offensive Athlete of the Week
Lilly Mehrkens, So, Bethany Lutheran, OH
Zumbrota, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa
Mehrkens helped Bethany go 3-0 during the week with wins over Buena Vista (3-1) on Wednesday, and both Luther (3-0) and Saint Mary's (3-0) on Saturday, extending the Vikings' win streak to five matches, which is the longest win streak since 2007. Mehrkens led the offense in all three matches. She had a career-high 25 kills and a .316 hitting percentage against Buena Vista, including 11 digs for a double-double. Mehrkens then had 17 kills and a .318 attack percentage against Luther. She finished the week with 17 kills and a blistering .469 attack rate against Saint Mary's. Mehrkens averaged 5.9 kills per set (59 total) and owned a .353 attack percentage.
Volleyball Setter of the Week
Abby Distad, So, Bethany Lutheran
Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville
Distad helped Bethany go 3-0 during the week with wins over Buena Vista (3-1) on Wednesday, and both Luther (3-0) and Saint Mary's (3-0) on Saturday, which extended the Vikings' win streak to five matches, and is the longest win streak since 2007. Distad started the week with 48 assists and 11 digs against Buena Vista. She then distributed 36 assists with seven digs and three aces against Luther, and finished the week with 33 assists against Saint Mary's. Distad averaged 11.7 assists per set throughout the week and leads the UMAC with 10.3 assists per set this season.
Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week
Savanna Hering, So, UW-Superior, DS/L
Superior, Wis./Superior
Hering accumulated 101 digs this past weekend at the Yellowjackets' home tournament, the Subway Stinger Classic. She set a new career-high against Concordia (Minn.) with 29 digs, aiding Superior to a 3-1 record on the weekend.