Eureka's Tapper First to Repeat as POW in Spring 2013

Eureka's Tapper First to Repeat as POW in Spring 2013

St. Louis, Mo. - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) has announced the Athletes of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

BASEBALL - HITTER
Westminster College's Justin Whitaker, a sophomore from Kossuth, Miss., has been named the Diamond Sports Baseball Hitter of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Whitaker, a first baseman, posted a .500 batting average in three games played last week. He finished the week with six hits, six runs scored, six RBI, one double and one home run. He also had three stolen bases and a .833 slugging percentage.

Whitaker posted two, multi-hit games as the Blue Jays performed a clean sweep of Eureka, 14-3, 6-1, 9-3, in the conference series. He went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI in game one and then added a double and two more runs scored in game two. Whitaker finished the week with a three-hit performance, including a home run and four RBI.

BASEBALL - PITCHER
Westminster College's Kevin Moritz, a senior from Chesterfield, Mo. (DeSmet), has been named the Diamond Sports Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Moritz, a right-handed pitcher, gave up no hits and only three walks in 5.0 innings of work as the Blue Jays defeated Eureka College, 6-1. Moritz finished with seven strikeouts on the day and earned the victory, as Moritz and two other Westminster relief pitchers combined for the no-hitter. Moritz has not given up a hit in his last nine innings pitched.

SOFTBALL - HITTER
Eureka College's Kelli Dunne, a senior from Peoria, Ill., has been named the Softball Hitter of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Dunne hit .583 for the week with five doubles, three runs scored and three RBI out of the Eureka cleanup spot. She hit safely in all four contests for the week to help the Red Devils to a double header sweep of Beloit. Dunne was 3-for-3 in game one with two doubles and one RBI. She then added another double, RBI and one run scored in game two of the twinbill. Dunne also added one double in each game of a double header versus North Park. She finished with two hits and two runs scored in game one, and she added one hit and one RBI in game two.

SOFTBALL - PITCHER
Eureka College's Tomi Tapper, a senior from East Peoria, Ill., has been named the Softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 18-24. This marks the second consecutive week that she has earned the honor.

Tapper went 1-1 on the mound with a 1.75 earned run average last week, striking out nine over 12.0 innings and two starts. She also limited opposing batters to a .188 batting average and earned the victory in the Red Devils' 10-2 victory over Beloit, in which she struck out three batters and allowed just three hits and two walks in 5.0 complete innings. Tapper's loss was a 2-1 decision versus North Park University. In 7.0 innings of work she allowed six hits, four walks, one earned run and recorded six strikeouts.

MEN'S TENNIS
Westminster College's Tony Stephenson, a senior from Jefferson City, Mo. (Helias), has been named the Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Stephenson was 2-1 last week in two SLIAC matches. Both of his wins were at #1 Singles, while his loss was an 8-3 decision at #1 Doubles versus Webster University. He posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory at #1 Singles against Eureka College's Wes Crandall before defeating Webster's Francissco Cortez, 6-3, 6-3, in doubles action.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Eureka College's Catrina Hollaway, a sophomore from Washington, Ill., has been named the Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Hollaway went 3-1 in SLIAC play last week and 4-1 overall, with her lone loss an 8-4 defeat at #1 Doubles versus Webster University. She started the week with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout victory at #1 Singles against Blackburn College's Kinsey Hilliard. Hollaway also rallied for two, three-set victories at #1 Singles against both Webster and Westminster College. Her other victory was an 8-6 win at over Blackburn along with teammate Jaylynn Stewart at #1 Doubles.

MEN'S FIELD
Spalding University's Kyle Jenkins, a senior from Louisville, Ky., has been named the Men's Field Athlete of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Jenkins placed in the top three in three events last weekend at the Mount St. Joseph Invitational. He finished second in both the discus throw and shot put with distances posted of 48.34 meters and 14.55 meters respectively. Jenkins also finished third in the hammer throw with a throw of 47.52 meters.

MEN'S TRACK
Westminster College's Jared Patterson, a sophomore from Salem, Mo., has been named the Men's Track Athlete of the Week for the week of March 11-17.

Patterson placed first in three events at the Culver-Stockton Wildcat Open, including the 800-meter run in which he broke the Westminster modern-day school record with a time of 2:00.08. He also won the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:16.32 and was part of the 4x800-meter relay that posted a time of 8:40.06.

WOMEN'S FIELD
Greenville College's Maggie McMurtrey, a junior from Morton, Ill., has been named the Women's Field Athlete of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

McMurtrey placed first in both the hammer throw and discus at the Washington University-St. Louis Mini Meet. She posted a throw of 146 feet in the hammer to win the event out of 11 athletes competing. She also defeated nine others by posting a distance of 115'2" in the discus. McMurtrey also placed third out of nine in the shot put with a throw of 35'7".

WOMEN'S TRACK
Westminster College's Sarah Ogar, a junior from Mexico, Mo., has been named the Women's Track Athlete of the Week for the week of March 18-24.

Ogar ran a personal best in the 400-m run at the Culver Stockton Wildcat Open with a time of 1:01.23 to place first overall. She then went on five minutes later to place second in the 800-m run with a time of 2:36. Ogar finished the meet by anchoring the Blue Jays 4x400-m relay team that came from behind to defeat Webster University and take home first place.