Contact: Chassidy Holloway, Associate Executive Director, holloway@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference (MWC) announced its Performers of the Week award recipients for games played September 16-22, 2024, on Monday.
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:
Football Defensive Performer of the Week
Cam Dailey, Illinois College
Dailey returned a fumble 56-yards for a touchdown and led the team with 10 total tackles (six solos) in Saturday's win over Ripon.
Football Offensive Performer of the Week
McKade Brooks, Monmouth College
McKade Brooks had a career-best day on Saturday in a 52-6 win over Lawrence. He ran for 167 yards on 11 carries for an average of 15.2 yards per carry. Brooks scored 3 times on the day, including an 83-yard run that was the 7th longest rushing play in Monmouth history. That score gave Monmouth a 7-0 lead and he also scored on 10 and 21 yard runs for leads of 21-6 and 35-6.
Football Special Teams Performer of the Week
Timo Kato, Illinois College
Kato returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown in IC's 44-14 win over Ripon on Saturday. Kato finished the day with 110 return yards.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
No Selection
Men’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Gustavo Herrera, Ripon College
Herrera had a breakout week for Ripon, helping the Red Hawks win their sixth and seventh consecutive games. In Wednesday's 6-0 shutout of UW-Stout, Herrera scored twice on three shots. In Saturday's 4-1 win at Eureka, the freshman scored again. Through eight games, Herrera has six goals (second among all Red Hawks), five assists (leads team), 17 points (leads team), 24 shots (leads team) and three game-winning goals (leads team). The freshman leads the Midwest Conference in shots, points, assists and game-winning goals, and is third in goals and shots on goal (nine).
Women’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
Maya Alberts, Lawrence University
Maya Alberts led a sterling defensive effort and contributed on offense as the Vikings posted a 2-0 road victory over traditional Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power UW-Whitewater. With the defense spearheaded by Alberts in the middle, Lawrence limited Whitewater to just four shots on goal for the match. With Lawrence already holding a 1-0 lead, Alberts scored on a header in the 29th minute to give the Vikings a valuable insurance goal. It was Lawrence's second shutout of the season and Alberts' second goal of the campaign.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Aleene Ramirez, Knox College
Entering the game against Eureka on Saturday, senior Aleene Ramirez had three goals and an assist in her career. She matched those totals exactly against the Red Devils, becoming the first Prairie Fire player with multiple goals in a game since the 2021 MWC Tournament, and the first with a hat trick in five years. Her performance contributed to an 8-0 Senior Day victory, snapping Knox's 26-game winless streak, and giving head coach Annie Gerdes her first triumph as the head coach.