Co-Female Athlete of the Week – Women’s Swimming & Diving Performer of the Week – Anna Durak (Hickory, N.C.), Loras College
Durak was a dominant force and created a name for herself in the A-R-C over the weekend. She picked up four individual wins and was named A-R-C Most Valuable Swimmer following the completion of the championship event. On the weekend, Durak picked up seven all-conference medals. She picked up wins in the 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 200 individual medley. Additionally, she helped guide the 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, and 400 medley relay to third-place finishes. In each of her four individual events, Durak recorded new A-R-C Championship records and hit NCAA B-Cuts.
Co-Female Athlete of the Week – Women’s Swimming & Diving Performer of the Week – Ella Rowley (Rochester, Minn./Mayo), Luther College
Rowley was steady from the diving platform over the weekend at the A-R-C Championships. She picked up gold medals in 1m diving and 3m diving, and after the event was named the A-R-C Most Valuable Diver. In the 1m diving event, she recorded a dive score of 428.70 and recorded an NCAA B-Cut. In the 3m diving event, she recorded a dive score of 397.00.
Co-Male Athlete of the Week – Men’s Swimming & Diving Performer of the Week – Kevin Kretz (Fairfield, Iowa/Fairfield), Luther College
Kretz returned to the top at the A-R-C Championships over the weekend as his performance earned him A-R-C Most Valuable Swimmer honors for the second time in his career. He picked up individual wins in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly. He guided four relays (200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay) to gold medals at the championship to propel the Norse to their second championship trophy. In the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, Kretz set new A-R-C championship records.
Co-Male Athlete of the Week – Men’s Swimming & Diving Performer of the Week – Colin Halverson (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek), Luther College
Halverson earned his second career A-R-C Most Valuable Diver honor at the conclusion of the A-R-C Championships on Saturday evening. Halverson finished second in the 1m diving event with 451.55 and hit the NCAA B-Cut mark. During the 3m diving event, he put on a show for the crowd as he set a new A-R-C championship record with a dive score of 510.50, another NCAA B-Cut.
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week – Jacob Williams (Dubuque, Iowa/Dubuque Senior), University of Dubuque
The Spartans capped off the regular season by locking up the No. 1 seed with two conference wins on the week. Williams had his best two game stretch of the season with a career-high 27 points against Coe and then followed that performance with an 18 point, 13 rebound double-double. Against Coe, he made a career-high 11 field goals. In the two games, Williams shot 62.1% from the field and grabbed 20 rebounds.
UD defeated Coe 78-75
UD defeated Loras 90-86 (2OT)
Women’s Basketball Player of the Week – Kailey Jones (Avoca, Iowa/AHSTW), Luther College
Jones led the Norse to a 2-0 week to close out the regular season. She is now at seven straight games with a double-double with 17 total this season. She ranks tied-sixth nationally for double-doubles currently. Jones surpassed the single-season record for rebounds. She now owns the single-game, single-season, and career rebounding records at Luther. Jones recorded 39 points and 30 rebounds over the two conference games on the week.
Luther defeated Loras 80-73
Luther defeated Central 65-48
Men's Indoor Track & Field - Field Performer of the Week – Kale Purcell (Holton, Kan./Holton), Central College
Purcell and the Dutch competed at the Liz Wuertz Invitational at Wartburg College on Saturday. He competed in the triple jump and recorded a mark of 14.76m and finished first out of ten entries. He currently ranks No. 5 nationally in the triple jump.
Men's Indoor Track & Field - Track Performer of the Week – Jensen Clapp (Holland, Iowa/Grundy Center), Wartburg College
Clapp competed at the Caged Eagle Invite and Liz Wuertz Invitational over the weekend. At the Caged Eagle Invite, Clapp competed in two team events. He helped guide the DMR team to a time of 9:50.99 to second. The Knights DMR stands third in Division III this season and second all-time in Wartburg program history. His next event at La Crosse was the 4x400 relay where they finished with a time of 3:19.06 to finish fourth. The 4x400 relay stands 15th in the country so far this season. At Wartburg on Saturday, Clapp competed in two individual events. He recorded a time of 49.62 in the 400m to finish first out of 28 total competitors. In the 200m, he finished in a time of 22.41 to finish second out of 42 competitors.
Women's Indoor Track & Field - Field Performer of the Week – Sara Hoskins (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley)
Hoskins and the Duhawks competed at the Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagle Invite on Friday as they prep for the A-R-C Championships. Hoskins recorded a mark of 1.72m in the high jump to claim first place out of 31 competitors. This mark is tied for second in Division III this season. The Duhawks finished third out of nine teams.
Women's Indoor Track & Field - Track Performer of the Week – JoJo Tyynismaa (Tama, Iowa/South Tama), Wartburg College
Tyynismaa competed at the Caged Eagle Invite and Liz Wuertz Invitational over the weekend. At Wisconsin-La Crosse, she ran the 60m hurdles and 4x400 relay. In the 60m hurdles, she finished with a time of 8.71 to finish second out of 40 competitors. She stands fifth in the country right now this season. In the 4x00 relay, the team finished with a time of 3:54.25 to finish third out of six teams. This relay stands 13th in Division III this season. At Wartburg on Saturday in the 400m, Tyynismaa finished in a time of 57.48 and finished first out of 20 competitors. This time stands 19th in the country. Her final event was the 200m where she finished in a time of 25.77 to finish first out of 30 competitors.
Men’s Tennis Performer of the Week – Joao Benvenutti (Blumenau, Santa Cararina, Brazil/Colegio Saber), Luther College
Benvenutti picked up four wins over the weekend for the Norse. He began his weekend at No. 2 doubles with Abhay Chhabra and they defeated the pair from Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 6-1. He then picked up an individual win over UWEC at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2. On Sunday, he teamed up with Chhabra again to defeat the St. Olaf pair, 6-1, at No. 2 doubles. At No. 2 singles, Benvenutti downed St. Olaf 6-3, 6-3.
Luther defeated Wisconsin-Eau Clair 7-0
Luther defeated St. Olaf 6-1
Women’s Wrestler of the Week – Keeley Kehrli (Quasqueton, Iowa/East Buchanan), Simpson College
Kehrli led the Storm to their highest finish at the Region VII Championships on Saturday. She placed second at 160lbs to qualify for nationals for the first time. Her only loss of the day was to Olympic silver medalist and top-ranked Kennedy Blades from the University of Iowa. She began her day with a fall in 1:15 over Alex Harswick of Wartburg then followed it up with a 9-7 decision victory over Alex Hofrichter of UD. She fell in the championship match but ultimately advances to the final site in a few weeks.
Weekly Report
The 2025 A-R-C Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments are upon us. On the men’s side, Central will host Coe and Loras will host Wartburg in the opening round games on Tuesday evening. The University of Dubuque and Nebraska Wesleyan earned first-round byes. On the women’s side, UD will travel to Luther and Central will head to Simpson for first-round games. Wartburg and Coe earned the first-round byes and will be in action on Thursday evening on their home courts.
The 2025 NCAA Division III Region VI Wrestling Regional will be hosted by the American Rivers Conference and Cedar Rapids Tourism this Friday and Saturday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top three wrestlers from each weight class will advance to the NCAA Division III National Championship.
The A-R-C completed the 2025 Swimming & Diving Championships hosted by Coe College on Saturday. The Luther College Norse took home both team titles as well as six of the eight major awards handed out.
The next championship for the A-R-C will be the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments as well as the Indoor Track & Field Championship.
The A-R-C partnered with FanWord earlier this summer, an AI storytelling platform, and will be using the platform throughout the academic year to enhance the storytelling of student-athletes, alumni, coaches, and many others. Fans, student-athletes, and coaches are encouraged to contact Ali Wilson, A-R-C Assistant Commissioner, if they have a compelling story.
Don't forget to become a fan of the American Rivers Conference on Facebook @AmericanRiversConference, X (Twitter) @AmerRiversConf, and Instagram @AmericanRiversConference.
About the American Rivers Conference
The Conference dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges got together and formed the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association." Honoring its heritage in Iowa and its expansion outside the state, the American Rivers Conference brand was established on August 9, 2018, to build on the academic and athletic success provided by its legacy, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The A-R-C has nine full-time members: Buena Vista University, Central College, Coe College, University of Dubuque, Loras College, Luther College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Simpson College, and Wartburg College.
