Brinker, Murfin, Atwater Earn IIAC Weekly Honors
Jan 31, 2017
DUBUQUE, Iowa – Three University of Dubuque athletes, Emily Brinker (Basketball), Blaze Murfin (Men's Track and Field) and Tanasha Atwater (Women's Track and Field), were selected as IIAC Athletes of the Week.
Emily Brinker (Senior, Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo), was named the IIAC Female Athlete of the Week and Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. Brinker averaged 21.67 points per game, 10.33 rebounds per game, and 12 total blocked shots in the Spartans three games this week, which included wins over Luther and Buena Vista. She had a 30 point outburst in the 81-80 win against Luther, including a blocking a Luther layup attempt at the buzzer to seal the win. “It is nice to be recognized for the work put in, but more importantly we need to continue to build as a team from this successful week of conference play to stay in the hunt for the conference tournament,” commented Brinker. “Once we can solidify a seed, anything can happen and we can make a post season run.” Brinker is now a two-time Women’s Basketball Player of the Week (1/29/17, 2/1/15)
Blaze Murfin (Sophomore, Dallas City, Ill./Illini West), was named the IIAC Male Athlete of the Week and IIAC Men’s Indoor Track and Field – Field Performer of the Week for this performance. At the University of Northern Iowa Jack Jennett Open, Murfin set a UD school record in the shot put with a distance of 16.35m/53’-7.75”, good enough to be the top DIII finisher in the shot put and fourth out of 27 total competitors. At the UW-Platteville Pioneer Select, he won the shot put with a top throw of 15.94m/52'-3.75" and finished second in the weight throw with a toss of 17.61m/57'-9.50". Murfin’s best mark of 17.61M/57'-9.50" in the weight throw is a season best that ranks ninth in NCAA Division III. "This past weekend was quite fun. My teammates and I have been working very hard. It was great to see a lot of them hit new personal records," said Atwater. This is the third time Murfin has been named IIAC Men’s Indoor Track and Field – Field Performer of the Week in his career (1/29/17, 1/22/17, 2/8/16).
Tanasha Atwater (Davenport, Iowa/Central), was selected as Women’s Indoor Track and Field - Field Performer of the Week. For the week, Atwater set two new UD school records and claimed three event titles. At the University of Northern Iowa Jack Jennett Open, Atwater won the shot put with a school record 15.01m/49’-3.00” toss and now ranks second in the shot put for NCAA Division III. At the UW-Platteville Pioneer Select, Atwater won titles in both the shot put and the weight throw. Her winning weight throw of 17.32m/56’-10.00”, is a new UD school record and eighth place in NCAA Division III this season. This is her fourth time being selected as Indoor Track and Field – Field Performer of the Week (1/29/17, 2/15/16, 1/25/16, 1/18/16).
