Upper Iowa News -- www.upperiowaathletics.com

UIU Alum Gary Korhonen Named 2008 Football National Coach of the Year

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:58:25 PST

The National High School Athletic Coaches Association held its 43rd Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 23-25. The meeting culminates with its Annual Awards Banquet that includes the awarding of the NHSACA Coach of the Year Awards. Eight Finalists from 18 sports and athletic director are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments and service. The final award of the evening is the naming of the National Coach of the Year recipient in each of the sports and an athletic director.

The award recipients are evaluated on longevity, professional service, win-loss percentage, championship years, and professional awards. Every state in the nation is provided opportunity to nominate candidates for evaluation for the award. The evaluation process is a two-tiered process; first the finalists are determined and the second evaluation is to determine the National Coach of the Year recipient.

Two Peacocks Earn National Academic All-American Honors

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:54:15 PST

Two members of the Upper Iowa University women's golf team have been named as National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American Scholar recipients at the NCAA Division II level. The two honorees are Laura Taylor (Woodbury, Minnesota) and Lindsey Holien (Ossian, Iowa). The honor is the second for Taylor, who earned the honor last year as well.

The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent of all college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 and student-athletes must have competed in at least 50% (Division I) or 66% (Division II & III) of the college's regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Officially Expands to 14 Teams

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:46:02 PST

St. Paul, Minn. - Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Commissioner Butch Raymond has announced the results from the NSIC Board of Directors teleconference call dealing with expansion. The Board of Directors, consisting of the ten NSIC Presidents/Chancellors, voted to expand the NSIC to 14 teams with the addition of Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.), the University of Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, Minn.), Minnesota State University Mankato (Mankato, Minn.) and Saint Cloud State University (Saint Cloud, Minn.). These four institutions, which were all voted on individually, will begin participating within the NSIC in the 2008-09 season.

New Peacock Women's Basketball Coach Named

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:48:37 PST

Upper Iowa University named Mike Brown as the Interim Head Women's Basketball Coach for the 2008-09 season today. The Polk City, Iowa native will move up from his assistant coach position to lead the Peacock program into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, or NSIC, in 2008-09.

"We are pleased to have Mike Brown take over as the Interim Head Women's Basketball Coach. He has a wealth of experience as a head coach. He also possesses the knowledge of this basketball program and has three years of experience in the Northern Sun Conference. He has proven to be a loyal, hard working member of our coaching staff," said Gil Cloud, Upper Iowa Director of Athletics.

Head Coach Ben Conrad Moving On

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:39:30 PST

Upper Iowa University head women's basketball coach Ben Conrad has resigned his position, effective immediately. Conrad will be introduced as the new head women's basketball coach at Johnson County Community College. Conrad managed the Peacocks' first three seasons at the NCAA Division II level.

Upper Iowa University presented Cedar Rapids Duane Kramer Sports Tourism Award

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:37:46 PST

FAYETTE, Iowa (June 13, 2008) -- Upper Iowa University (UIU) was presented with the Duane Kramer Sports Tourism award at the annual Cedar Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Celebration of Sports banquet held at the Cedar Rapids Marriott on June 4.

The Duane Kramer Sports Tourism Award recognizes an organization(s) for hosting an event that attracted a significant number of visitors to the Cedar Rapids area.

Upper Iowa's Ryan Arp Picked by Dodgers in 2008 MLB Draft

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:07:07 PST

Ryan Arp (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), a senior, righthanded catcher, for the Peacocks has been selected in the 45th round (1356 overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

After signing a contract with the Los Angeles, Arp expects to report to a Dodger rookie league team in either Utah or Florida. Arp told Peacock Head Coach Mark Danker that he was "excited for the opportunity to continue his playing career."

Rachael Schmidt Wins U.S. Women's APL Qualifying Medal

Thu, 29 May 2008 09:17:05 PST

Rachael Schmidt has never played in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship before, mainly because until fairly recently she was unaware of its existance.She found out about the tournament for the best public course players in the country this spring, when someone at her home course, Elk River Golf Club, suggested that she should try to qualify.On Wednesday, Schmidt made her first attempt at qualifying. It was an impressive debut. Despite some issues with her putter, she shot a 1-over-par 73 and claimed medalist honors by four strokes.

Winans Named to the Ping/GCAA Division II All-Region Team

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:59:06 PST

The Division II All-Region teams presented by Ping and the Golf Coaches Association of America, or GCAA, have been released and one Peacock has earned a spot. Adam Winans (LaGrange, Ind.) was named to the All-Central Region Team.

Winans led the Peacocks' seventh place finish in the 2008 Central Regional with rounds of 76-70-76 for a 54-hole total of 222 (+6). The three day effort placed the junior in fifth place. Winans registered one eagle, eight birdies, and 31 pars; shooting par or better on 40 of the 54 holes.

Schmidt Named to the Duramed FUTURES Tour NGCA Division II All-American Team

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:20:48 PST

The Division II All-American teams presented by the Duramed FUTURES Tour and the National Golf Coaches Association, or NGCA, have been released and one Peacock has earned a spot. Rachael Schmidt (Elk River, Minn.) was named to the Second Team. This is the third time Schmidt has been named to the NGCA All-American team. She earned a spot on the Honorable Mention Team both her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Fjelland Named to ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region Second Team

Wed, 21 May 2008 16:18:05 PST

The All-Central Region Teams presented by the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) and Rawlings have been released and one Peacock has earned a spot on the Second Team. Nick Fjelland (Alleman, Iowa) was named to the Second Team as an infielder after his stellar senior season.

Fjelland, the Peacocks' rock at third base, was named First Team All-NSIC. Fjelland hit .356 in 54 games played and started for Upper Iowa. He picked up 67 hits in his 188 at bats including a UIU-record 25 doubles and an NSIC-record 16 doubles. Fjelland had a slugging percentage of .553 and hit four homeruns while driving in 39 and scoring 53 runs.

Nineteen Peacocks Earn Northern Sun All-Academic Team Honors

Wed, 21 May 2008 12:20:55 PST

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has announced its All-Academic Teams for the 2007-08 spring athletic season and nineteen Peacock student-athletes earned recognition.

To be eligible for this honor, the student-athlete must be a member of the varsity traveling team and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better. The student-athlete must have also reached sophomore academic and athletic standing at the institution represented with one full year completed at their institution.

Upper Iowa Finishes Sixth in 2007-08 NSIC All-Sport Standings

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:58:13 PST

The Upper Iowa Athletics Department climbed three spots this year in the NSIC All-Sports Standings. The Peacocks ranked 6th this year, only five points away from 4th place U-Mary and four and a half points away from 5th place MSU Moorhead. Upper Iowa's success is due, in large part, to its three NSIC Championships in Wrestling, Women's Tennis, and Women's Golf. But 6th place could not have been attained without Baseball (2nd), Women's Soccer (3rd), and Men's Golf (3rd), who all had very successful seasons as well.

Upper Iowa Wrestling Bestows Post-Season Accolades at Legends Dinner

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:21:34 PST

The Upper Iowa wrestling program hosted their annual Legends Dinner and handed out their post-season awards. Tony Gehling was the team's leader in the classroom with a 3.704 GPA; he has now earned the highest GPA on the team for the last three years. There was a three-way tie for most falls on the team between Dan Goodson, Tyler Mumbulo, and Matt Norton who all finished with nine. Mumbulo earned the most wins over the course of the season with 31, narrowly edging out teammate Travis Eggers, who finished with 30.

The Most Improved Wrestler award went to Matt Norton. Mumbulo earned his third award of the night when he was named as the team's Most Inspirational Wrestler. Tee Adams was named the team's Most Dedicated Wrestler. JR Baker earned the recognition as the team's Outstanding Freshman. The final award of the night, Outstanding Wrestler, went to the Peacocks' highest finisher at this year's NCAA Championships, Travis Eggers, who finished 4th in the country at 157 pounds.

Six Preps Commit to Upper Iowa

Mon, 19 May 2008 16:35:08 PST

Upper Iowa Head Wrestling Coach Heath Grimm announced the commitment of six high school wrestlers to attend UIU next fall. The group of six is led by Wade Gobin, who signed a National Letter of Intent. The remaining five young men have accepted admission to Upper Iowa and include Cody Bachman, Mitchell Schultz, Cody Northern, Bo Eggers, and Nicholas Mazzuca. The present recruiting class includes four wrestlers from Iowa, one from Illinois, and one from Minnesota.