CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The American Rivers Conference announced that Buena Vista University baseball player
Peyton Renning (Carroll, Iowa/Carroll) and Coe College softball player
Haley Jones (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West) were named American Rivers Conference Athletes of the Week, for the week ending Sunday, March 10, 2019. The Conference also announced Performers of the Week in baseball, softball and men’s tennis.
Male Athlete of the Week – Baseball – Position Player of the Week
Peyton Renning, Buena Vista University
Sr., OF, Carroll, Iowa/Carroll
- Renning led BVU in four games last week with 12 hits and a .625 batting average.
- The senior outfielder set career-highs with five base hits and four RBI during Saturday's game one victory over Grinnell.
- He followed game one’s performance up with four hits and matched a career-high with three runs scored during Sunday's game two loss to the Pioneers.
- The Carroll, Iowa native finished the two-day, four-game series against Grinnell with 6 runs scored, 6 RBI and 2 stolen bases, going 12-for-18 at the plate.
- Renning is now second in the league in hits (12) and seventh in average (.462) after four games this last week.
- This is Renning’s first Position Player of the Week accolade.
- Renning was a first-team All-Conference selection a season ago.
Female Athlete of the Week - Softball – Position Player of the Week
Haley Jones, Coe College
Sr., SS, Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West
- Jones led Coe’s offense in 7-of-8 games last week, going 16-for-27 with 5 doubles, 3 triples and 1 homerun.
- She scored 17 runs on 16 hits and accumulated a batting average of .593 while adding seven stolen bases
- In the field she recorded six putouts and provided 11 assists.
- Ninth-ranked Coe improved to 13-0 on the year with last week’s eight wins.
- She leads the A-R-C in hits (26), runs (25), triples (7) and homeruns (3).
- This is Jones’ fourth Softball Position Player of the Week honor (3/11/19, 4/29/18, 4/16/17, 4/9/17).
- Jones was voted Conference Position Player of the Year a season ago and picked up her second, first-team all-league honors.
Baseball – Pitcher of the Week
Brady Held, Simpson College
Fr. RHP, Indianola, Iowa/Indianola
- Held tossed a complete-game one hitter and shutout against Utica in his first career start on the mound for Simpson.
- In 20 batters faced, Held struck out 13 and only walked two.
- Held is the first Simpson pitcher to win Pitcher of the Week since March 23, 2014 (Matt Pennings).
Softball – Pitcher of the Week
Alyssa Olson, Coe College
Sr., RHP, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson
- In ninth-ranked Coe's eights wins this last week, Olson was the winning pitcher in five of them, posting an ERA of 0.50.
- In 28 innings of work and 112 batters faced, Olson recorded 50 strikeouts and allowed just 15 hits, 9 walks and 4 runs scored.
- The senior pitcher leads the A-R-C in opposing batting avg(.134), batters struck out(73), wins(7) and hits allowed(19).
- Olson is now a seven-time Conference Pitcher of the Week (3/4/2019, 4/22/18, 4/15/18, 3/12/17, 3/5/17, 2/26/17).
- A season ago, Olson was voted Conference Pitcher of the Year and picked up first-team all-league honors.
Men’s Tennis – Player of the Week
Jon Lansing, Coe College
Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier
- Lansing helped the Kohawks defeat Midway University 6-3 on March 4, University of St. Francis (Ill.) 6-3 on March 7 and Carthage College 9-0 on March 8.
- Over three matches he finished 2-0 in singles and doubles.
- No. 4 Singles: Jon Lansing (COE) def. JT Hayden (Midway) 6-2, 6-3
- No. 5 Singles: Jon Lansing (COE) def. Martin Rayos del Sol (St. Francis-IL) 6-2, 6-0
- No. 3 Doubles: Ben Hediger/Jon Lansing (COE) def. Sebastian Hernandez/Steven Knowles (Midway) 8-2.
- No. 3 Doubles: Nathan Meskell/Jon Lansing (COE) def. Dunn, Kevin/Leipold, Fordy (Carthage) 8-3
- This is the first Men’s Tennis Player of the Week award for Lansing and the third for Coe this season.
