2011-12 Student-Athletes of the Month

May 2012

Catie Ellingson, Track and Field
A senior middle distance runner from Indianola, Iowa, Ellingson placed fourth in the 1500 meters at nationals, finishing in 4:27.87. She closed her career as a six-time All-American, tied for the third most individual All-America certificates in program history. Two weeks prior to the national meet, Ellingson won the 1500 at the Iowa Conference Championships, her eighth conference title. Ellingson bounced back in 2012 after a leg injury forcer her to miss the entire 2011 outdoor season.

Ben Coy, Track and Field
A senior sprinter from Jewell, Iowa, Coy placed eighth in the 400 meters at nationals, finishing in 48.33. The finish made Coy the program’s first male All-American since 2005 and the first under seventh-year head coach Dave Cleveland. He edged out Joesh Goerdt of Loras, who denied Coy an Iowa Conference Championship in the same race just two weeks earlier despite Coy’s personal-best time of 48.16. A dual-sport athlete, Coy was a member of the track and field team as a freshman but concentrated on football as a sophomore and junior before returning to the team in the spring of 2012.

April 2012

Kacee Arey, Softball
A junior pitcher from Lucas, Iowa, Arey led Division III in wins for most of month before closing April at 24-13, second in the nation. She went 10-6 with a 2.13 ERA, logging 102 of the team's 106 total innings. At month's end she ranked third in the Iowa Conference with 171 strikeouts, leading Simpson to a No. 4 regional ranking and a third place finish in the conference.

Michael Chia, Baseball
A sophomore third baseman from Indianola, Iowa, Chia led the Storm with a .327 batting average in 16 games during the month of April. He also led the team with 15 RBIs, six extra-base hits and a .481 slugging percentage. He went a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases and had a career-high four RBIs in a 10-6 win over Coe.

March, 2012

Chelsea Winegard, Softball
A junior rightfielder from Muscatine, Iowa, Winegard was one of the nation's top hitters during the month, leading Division III with a .552 batting average through the first 20 games. She closed the month hitting .527 with five triples as the Storm went 14-4 in March. She drove in 12 runs and slugged a team-high .727 while posting an on-base percentage of .550. She played flawlessly in the outfield with 16 putouts and one assist.

Tyler Craig, Baseball
A sophomore first baseman from Urbandale, Iowa, Craig hit a team-high .407 to lead Simpson to an 11-6 record during the month. He paced the team with eight extra-base hits, 18 RBIs and a .576 slugging percentage. He earned IIAC Male Athlete of the Week and Baseball Position Player of the Week honors for the period ending March 24 and hit two game winners in a three-game sweep of Loras on March 24-25.

February, 2012

Stacey Schutjer, Women's Basketball
A senior post from Titonka, Iowa, Schutjer earned first team all-conference honors for the third time in her career, becoming one of only four players in school history with three first team selections. She closed her career sixth on Simpson's all-time scoring list with 1,388 points and third on the rebounding charts with 712. She is one of four players in school history with at least 1,300 points and 700 rebounds.

Zack Barragan, Men's Basketball
A senior guard from Ankeny, Iowa, Barragan earned first team all-conference honors following the season. He became Simpson's all-time leader in 3-pointers made during the year, closing his career with 199. His 16.5 points per game in 2011-12 to rank second in the Iowa Conference, and at season's end he had 1,083 career points.

January, 2012

Ali Sokol, Women's Basketball
A senior forward from Urbandale, Iowa, Sokol averaged 9.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in helping the Storm to a 5-2 mark during the month. She led Simpson with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting in an 82-71 win over Dubuque on Jan. 7 and had another big game against the Spartans when she posted her second double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 92-73 win at Dubuque on Jan. 25.

Chad Boston, Men's Basketball
A senior guard from Des Moines, Iowa, Boston averaged 15 points and 6.9 rebounds as Simpson went 4-3 during the month. He earned IIAC Player fo the Week honors after putting up 19 points and nine rebounds a game for the week ending Jan. 22, leading the Storm to a 3-0 mark during the stretch. He posted two double-doubles in January (11 points and 11 rebounds against Dubuque and 20 points and 11 rebounds against Wartburg) and went 18 of 19 from the free throw line during the last four games of the month.

December, 2011

Kate Nielsen, Women's Basketball
A junior forward from Urbandale, Iowa, Nielsen led the Storm in scoring (14 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) in six games during the month, helping the Storm go 4-2. She earned Iowa Conference Female Athlete of the Week and Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors twice, once on Dec. 11 and again on Jan. 1. She posted two double-doubles in the stretch, against Luther and No. 25 Thomas More at the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas.

Brian Haynes, Wrestling
A freshman 157-pounder from Gladstone, Mo., Haynes posted an 8-3 record during the month, including a 3-1 mark at the Desert Duals in Las Vegas where the Storm went 3-1 as a team. Led by Haynes, the Storm picked up their fourth dual win of the season while in Las Vegas, the most by the program since the 2007-08 campaign. Of his eight wins, three were pins and two were major decisions.

November, 2011

Katherine Bird, Women's Soccer
A senior from Iowa City, Iowa, Bird earned second team all-conference honors for the second time in her career after leading the team in scoring with 24 points. Bird tied for the team lead in goals (8) and led the team in assists (8). She closed her career with 16 assists, 10th in program history. Bird also performed well in the classroom, as the environmental science and psychology double-major earned second-team academic all-district honors.

Ryan Edwardson, Men's Cross Country
A senior from Spencer, Iowa, Edwardson punched his second ticket to nationals in 2011, becoming Simpson's first two-time national qualifier since 1989. Edwardson got to the national meet with an eighth-place finish at the Central Regional, giving him all-region honors and helping Simpson to its best regional team finish since 1995. He placed 205th at the NCAA Division III Championships, a 17-place improvement from his 2010 effort. Edwardson brought home two IIAC Runner of the Week awards throughout the season.

October, 2011

Megan Dunlavy, Volleyball
A senior middle hitter from Bettendorf, Iowa, Dunlavy closed her career with a second team all-conference nod. The four-year letterwinner finished eighth on Simpson's all-time kills list (1,344) and third in hitting percentage (.271). During the month, Dunlavy earned Iowa Conference Athlete of the Week and Hitter of the Week honors for the period ending Oct. 23, set a school single-match record for players with 15-19 attack attempts when she hit .824 (14-0-17) against Luther and finished with the most kills by a Simpson player in a single season since the 25-point scoring format was introduced in 2008 (432).

Jeremy Reinert, Soccer
A junior midfielder from Indianola, Iowa, Reinert was the catalyst for a resurgent Simpson squad, connecting on three game-winners in nine games. Two of his game winners came in overtime against conference foes Dubuque and Buena Vista. Reinert led the team with five goals and 11 points and was named Iowa Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 2. At season's end, Reinert was tied for third in the conference with nine goals.

September, 2011

Nicole Dillenburg, Women's Soccer
A senior midfielder from Urbandale, Iowa, Dillenburg tied for the team lead with four goals during the month, including two game-winners. She scored two goals each in the first two games of the season, earning Iowa Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sept. 4. Dillenburg now has seven career multi-goal games and 30 goals on her career, which ranks sixth on Simpson's all-time list.

Taylor Nelson, Football
A sophomore quarterback from West Des Moines, Iowa, Nelson broke an 85-year old school record when he completed 31 passes in Simpson's 31-23 loss to St. Olaf on Sept. 10. In four games during the month, he threw for 833 yards, three touchdowns and only one interception in 135 attempts. He earned Iowa Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sept. 11