Athletics News Releases

Dudgeon, Nowak receive weekly Iowa Conference awards

MOUNT VERNON - Cornell College volleyball player Laura Dudgeon (Bettendorf/Bettendorf) and men's cross country runner Chase Nowak (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) have been recognized as Iowa Conference Performers of the Week in their respective sports for the period ending Sept. 27.

Dudgeon was honored by the IIAC for the third consecutive week. The senior middle hitter led the red-hot Rams (14-3 overall, 2-1 IIAC) to a perfect 5-0 week, capped with a team championship at the Wheaton Invitational Sept. 25-26 in Wheaton, Ill.

In five matches during the week, Dudgeon posted 62 kills, 17 total blocks and hit .400. She recorded a near-perfect .778 attack percentage with 14 kills on 18 attempts in a three-set victory over Dubuque Sept. 23 in Mount Vernon.

Dudgeon ranks third in NCAA Division III with a .469 hitting percentage. She leads the IIAC in kills per set at 3.8. Dudgeon has helped guide the Rams to their best start to a season in more than two decades, including a current eight-match winning streak.

Nowak was recognized for his performance at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational Sept. 25 in Davenport. The sophomore was the top IIAC finisher at the meet, placing 15th in the 373-man field. Nowak covered the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 56 seconds, trailing the meet champion by only 25 seconds.

Nowak led the Rams to a seventh-place finish in the 26-team field, slotting in behind four regionally-ranked schools. Nowak has one victory and three top-20 finishes to his credit this fall.