For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

March 18, 2008

Winter sports awards announced at banquet

EUREKA — The annual E-Tribe Winter Sports Banquet was held Sunday on the campus of Eureka College.  Head coaches Jane Austin (men's and women's swimming), Abby Hearn (women's basketball) and Chip Wilde (men's basketball) announced their team's award winners.

The women's swimming MVP award went to junior Kelsey Hale (Hood River, Ore./Valley) for the second consecutive season.  Hale medaled at the season ending Liberal Arts Championships with a fifth place finish in the 200 butterfly.  It was the best finish for the Red Devils at the event.  Sophomore Alyssa Wetterauer (Washington, Ill./HS) earned the Most Improved award.  She set three personal best times at the Liberal Arts Championships, making the finals in two events.  Natalie Wetterauer (Washington, Ill./HS) won Best Newcomer honors.  She showed great promise in her first season with a second place finishes in 100 butterfly and third in the 50 freestyle at the Eureka Sprint Meet.  Her sister, Alyssa, was Best Newcomer last year.

Junior Blair Steffens (Pontiac, Ill./HS) was named the men's swimming MVP.  He was consistently Eureka's top performer in the freestyle events, and led the team with a 12th place finish in the finals of the 100 yard breaststroke at the Liberal Arts Championships.  John Isom (Coon Rapids, Minn./HS), who set three personal best times as a sophomore this season, was handed the Most Improved award.  The squad's Best Newcomer was Aaron Phelan (Eureka, Ill./HS).  He led EC in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events.

For the second consecutive season, Nicole Fisher (Canton, Ill./HS) won the women's basketball MVP award.  The senior forward set four school rebounding records this season en route to All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team and Player of the Year accolades.  She surpassed the EC single season rebounds record by 80 with a total of 336 and average of 13.4 per game.  A three-time SLIAC Player of the Week recipient, Fisher finished her career as Eureka's all-time leading rebounder with 892
and in third place on the career scoring list with 1,386.  She earned the Craig Gerdes Rebound Award for the third straight year for leading the team in rebounds.  She had 18 double-doubles in 25 games this season.  Senior forward Brandi Payne (Eureka, Ill./HS) earned the team's Most Improved award after nearly doubling her rebounding average from last year to 6.6 per contest this season.  She recorded three double-doubles, including two versus Greenville, the third place team in the conference.  Payne was the second leading rebounder for the Red Devils, who were not out-rebounded in any of their 16 conference games this season.

Junior Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) took home the Defensive Player of the Year award.  Downs had an outstanding all-around season for EC, leading the team in four categories: assists, assist-to-turnover ratio, blocks and steals.  She led the SLIAC in blocked shots, and with nine rejections in her last two games, she broke the Eureka single season record for blocked shots with 56.  In conference play, she ranked fourth in both assists (3.44 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.96).  The Red Devils led the conference in field goal percentage defense.  Senior guard Brittany Gardner (Mooresville, Ind./HS) was handed the Coach's Award in addition to her Second Team All-Conference honors.  Gardner led the team in three-pointers for the fourth consecutive year, finishing her career with a school record 195.  She averaged 14.7 points per game, ranking fourth in the SLIAC in scoring.

Matt McComb (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley), the lone senior on the Eureka men's basketball squad, won the team's MVP award following a season in which he led the team in assists, steals and free throw percentage.  He ranked third in the conference in assists (3.6 apg) and led the league in steals (2.3 spg).  He also averaged 11.7 points per game after a strong finish to the season that saw him score in double figures in 15 of the final 17 games.  Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS), who led the team in rebounding (8.7 rpg) to earn the Craig Gerdes Rebound Award, was named Most Improved.  The sophomore forward recorded four double-doubles, ranked second in the SLIAC in rebounding, was named Honorable Mention All-Conference and was named SLIAC Player of the Week (Jan. 28- Feb. 3).

Junior guard Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) received Defensive Player of the Year honors. In addition to being a defensive stalwart for the Red Devils, who ranked second in the SLIAC in field goal percentage defense, Wildenradt averaged 9.9 points per game and led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53). 
The Coach's award went to the team's leading scoring, Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS).  Darnall was a two-time SLIAC Player of the Week honoree, who averaged 13.3 points per game.  He scored in double figures in 18 games, and recorded his first double-double with 17 points and 10 assists in the season finale.

Eureka College athletic banquets are sponsored by the EC athletic department in conjunction with E-Tribe.  Each year, there are banquets for fall, winter and spring sports.  The next banquet will be 6:30 pm, Tuesday, April 29 for individual spring sports

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For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bsullivan@eureka.edu