Contact: Chassidy Holloway, Associate Executive Director, holloway@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference (MWC) announced its Performers of the Week award recipients for the week of September 25 through October 1, 2023, on Tuesday.
MWC sports information directors nominate student-athletes for the Performer of the Week honor by sport and vote as a committee to select the winners.
For the Fall season, Performers of the Week will be recognized every week on Monday (football, soccer) and Tuesday (cross country, women’s tennis, volleyball) once their seasons have been triggered (three MWC institutions competing) and will conclude the week prior to the sport-specific Conference tournament/championship.
The Performer of the Week award winners are as follows:
Men’s Cross Country Performer of the Week
Isaac vanWestrienen, Cornell College
VanWestrienen placed 11th out of 322 finishers in a competitive field at the Dan Huston Invitational that featured seven of the top 10 teams in the Midwest Region. The sophomore clocked a season-best 8K time of 25:28 and led the No. 10 regionally-ranked Rams to a seventh-place team showing.
Women’s Cross Country Performer of the Week
Keely Miyamoto, Grinnell College
Miyamoto ran the 11th-best time in program history and placed sixth of 234 runners at the Wartburg College Dan Huston Invitational Saturday. Miyamoto’s clocking of 22 minutes, 49.40 seconds is second-best in the conference this year.
Women’s Tennis Performer of the Week
Ivana Stefanova, Monmouth College
Ivana Stefanova turned in another 2-0 week for the Scots, leading the team to a 5-4 win over Illinois College on the road. The freshman won 6-0, 6-0 at Singles to set the Monmouth record with 10 straight wins and a 10-0 singles record thus far. She then teamed with Natalie Labicki to win 8-6 at No. 1 doubles, improving to 9-1 in doubles.
Volleyball Defensive Performer of the Week
Callista Lo, Lawrence University
Callista Lo led the defensive charge that helped Lawrence win its first Midwest Conference match since 2019 as the Vikings topped Knox 3-1 on the road. Lo posted a match-best and career-high 20 digs against the Prairie Fire, and she added seven kills and a service ace. Lawrence snapped a 21-match conference losing skid with the victory, its first in league play since defeating Beloit on Oct. 12, 2019.
Volleyball Offensive Performer of the Week
Mary Gegen, Lake Forest College
Gegen pounded out a career-high 24 kills, posted a .468 hitting percentage, and added nine digs in Lake Forest's four-set victory at Monmouth on Saturday. She also recorded a double-double at Knox the night before, finishing with 11 kills and 14 digs in another four-set triumph as the Foresters began conference play 2-0.