MONMOUTH, Ill. – Thrower Peyton Lumzy (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) is peaking at the right time and earned his second Midwest Conference Performer of the Week award in track and field for men’s field events.

Lumzy uncorked a career-best weight throw at last Saturday’s Wartburg Invitational. The junior’s winning 55’9-3/4” toss improved his conference-leading margin by nearly three feet and provisionally qualified him for next month’s NCAA Championships. He also posted a shot put of 48’9” to place second in that event.

The environmental science major was also named the conference’s Performer of the Week in January.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Freshman Colleen Forrest (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) helped keep the Fighting Scots in the Midwest Conference playoff chase to the bitter end in the team’s final two games and was named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in women’s basketball for her efforts.

Needing to win both games last week to stay in the hunt, Forrest – an education major – educated Lake Forest on the art of clutch shots in a 101-96 overtime win over the Foresters. The 5-4 guard hit a school-record-tying seven three pointers in the win last Tuesday, but none bigger than her three-point bomb with three seconds left in regulation. The Fighting Scots never led in the second half and trailed 85-82 when Forrest hit the tying shot from the top of the key with two defenders draped on her to force the extra session. She then hit a trey for Monmouth’s first points of the overtime and ended the Scots’ scoring with a free throw to close out the game. She scored a game- and career-high 26 points in the classic battle, making 7-of-13 shot from beyond the arc. In another must-win situation Saturday, Forrest pumped in another 17 points in a 72-57 win over Grinnell.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Gloria Lehr (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) has been making the most of her senior season and has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in the women’s field events for the second time this season.

Lehr threw a provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw at last week’s 21-team Keck Ecumenical. Her throw of 52’7-1/4” tied her for second, improving her conference-leading mark by nearly 3’ and ranks her 11th in the nation. Lehr’s 40’9” effort in the shot put placed her second, 1-1/2” out of first. Her points helped the Scots place third in the meet, less than three points out of second.

Lehr is a senior math and physics major.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Justine Boone (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) helped the Fighting Scots to a pair of wins last week and was named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in women’s basketball.

A junior guard, Boone helped Monmouth maintain a tie in the MWC for the fourth and final conference playoff berth. In a 75-60 win over Grinnell last Wednesday, the business major recorded a double-double and just missed by two rebounds in her bid to become the first Monmouth woman to record a triple-double. She poured in 13 points, dished out 11 assists, pulled down eight rebounds and recorded four steals while playing all but four minutes. Her 11 assists and four field goals accounted for half of the Scots’ 30 baskets. Boone followed Wednesday’s performance with another stellar effort in a 61-45 win over Knox. She scored another 13 points, recorded five assists and made six steals as the Scots held Knox scoreless over the final 7:45 of the game. For the week, Boone averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and five steals per game.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – A “substantial” improvement by Logan Hohl (Orion, Ill./Orion) and Nick Byom (Gilson, Ill./Knoxville) at last week’s Midwest Invitational has earned the pair the Midwest Conference’s Performer of the Week awards in men’s track and field.

Hohl, a junior physical education major, didn’t take long to run a provisional qualifying time in the 55-meter hurdles. He clocked a provisional time of 7.72 to win the event at last Saturday’s home meet. The time ranks him fourth in the nation. Hohl also ran a leg on the second place 4x400 relay which clocked a conference-best 3:29.63.

Byom, a junior chemistry major, nearly punched his auto­matic ticket to the NCAA Indoor Champion­ships last week. Competing at his home facility, Byom won the high jump clearing 6’9-3/4”. The height provisionally qualified him for the national meet and was just one inch from the automatic height. He has the nation’s top high jump mark this season.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College sophomore Josh Dunn (Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) took two firsts in last week’s dual meet and was named the men’s swimming Performer of the Week by the Midwest Conference.

Dunn had a strong finish at last weekend’s home dual meet against Wabash College. His win in the 200 backstroke began a three-race win streak for the Fighting Scots. Swimming the 200 backstroke for the first time in his career, Dunn clocked the conference’s third-fastest time of 2:03.05. He picked up another win in the 400 freestyle relay, swimming the anchor leg as the Scots clocked a 3:26.31. Dunn began the meet swimming a leg on the second place 400 medley relay which touched in 3:52.27.

This is Dunn’s second Performer of the Week award this season.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – A pair of Monmouth College track and field athletes recorded personal-best marks in last week’s opening meet at the Knox Invitational and earned the Midwest Conference Performers of the Week honors in men’s and women’s field events.

Peyton Lumzy (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) made his first effort of the season the best effort of his career in his first meet of the season. The junior’s first place mark in the weight throw of 53’2-3/4” was his career best by nearly 5’ and more than 2’ better than the runnerup. He followed that performance with a second place finish in the shot put, heaving the shot 47’10-1/2”, just 3-1/2” from another personal best.

Gloria Lehr (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) eclipsed her personal best in the first meet of the season at last Saturday’s Knox Invitational. The senior won the weight throw with a mark of 49’10-1/2”, besting her previous career best by more than 10-1/2”. She added a second place finish in the shot put where she put the shot 41’6-1/2”.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Scoring 32 percent of her team’s points over a three game stretch earned freshman Zipporah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Orr Academy) the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor in women’s basketball.

A 5-foot-10 forward, Williams averaged a double-double as the Fighting posted a 2-1 record for week. In an 83-72 win over Knox on Tuesday, she posted her second double-double of the season, scoring a career-high 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and hit 12-of-14 free throws to go with 13 rebounds. Williams then poured in a game-high 20 points in a 60-51 win over Lawrence Friday, just missing another double-double with nine rebounds. She wrapped up the week on Saturday with another 20 point, nine rebound effort in a 69-59 loss to Carroll. For the week, Williams averaged 22 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 64 percent from the floor.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Sophomore Josh Dunn (Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) broke two school records four times at last weekend’s DePauw Invitational and was named the men’s swimming Co-Performer of the Week by the Midwest Conference.

Dunn set the new Monmouth record in the prelims of the 200-yard individual medley, swimming a 2:01.31. He then set a new standard in the finals, placing second with a 1:59.81. The amazing weekend continued for the sophomore in the 100 backstroke, breaking his own school record in the prelims with a swim of 54.81. The new record didn’t stand long as Dunn placed third in the finals with another school record, touching in 53.93.

There was no letup in the relays for Dunn. He teamed with John Kaiser, Steve Collins and Joe Testolin in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing just two seconds off a school record and placing fourth in 3:19.96. Dunn, Testolin, Josh Van Swol and Chad Rowland formed the 800 freestyle relay which clocked a Monmouth honor roll time of 7:30.54 to place fifth. Another fifth and an honor roll time followed in the 400 medley relay where he was joined by Testolin, John Kaiser and Harrison Heilman who posted a time of 3:43.63.

Dunn has the MWC’s top times in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke. The 400 medley and 800 freestyle relay times are also the MWC’s top times.

Grinnell’s Marco Fulgoni was also named Co-Performer of the Week.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Swimmer Krysta Sparks (Montrose, Colo./Montrose) was named Midwest Conference Co-Performer of the Week after the season’s first full weekend.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Wide receiver Matt Shepherd (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg) exploded for three touchdowns in the Fighting Scots’ final regular season game and earned the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor.

Shepherd scored three times as the Scots pulled away for a 42-0 win over Knox in the 121^st meeting between the two teams. The junior caught a game-high 14 passes for 141 yards, averaging over 10 yards per catch. His 948 receiving yards this season broke the previous high-water mark of 911 set by Evan Haffner in 2004.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) picked up his third Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor after yet another record-breaking day in a 44-17 win over Illinois College Saturday.

Tanney threw for a school-record 437 yards Saturday to break the record of 405 yards he shared with his older brother, Mitch. Alex, a junior, had tied the previous record his freshman year against St. Norbert. He completed 33 of 46 passes with three touchdowns and one interception against Illinois College for an efficiency rating of 168.71. With more than a season left, he has thrown for a school-record 9,346 yards and 110 TDs, including 36 scores and 3,044 yards this season.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Defensive end Anthony Goranson (Bartlett, Ill./Belvidere) had one of his best games this season and earned this week’s Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week honor.

Goranson played a big role in shutting down the Lake Forest offense in the Fighting Scots’ 51-14 win over the Foresters Saturday. The senior stuffed the Foresters with eight tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks for 20 yards. For the season, he leads the team with six sacks for 46 yards and 14.5 tackles for loss for 74 yards. He is tied for fifth with 40 total tackles and is just three sacks from tying Greg Bennett’s career sack record of 34 set from 1987-90.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Hitter Chelsey Widdop (Reynolds, Ill./Rockridge) had an amazing five-match performance last week and earned her second Midwest Conference Performer of the Week award in volleyball.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Linebacker Marcus Ruff (Avon, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City) led the charge defensively in last week’s 35-13 win over Ripon and was named the Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Two-sport athlete Amy Unzicker (Morton, Ill./Morton) knocked off a Division II opponent to end a perfect week in singles tennis and was rewarded with the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor.

Unzicker, who also does duty with the Fighting Scots women’s soccer team, focused on tennis for three matches last week and went 3-0 at No. 1 singles. The sophomore began the week with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Megan Funk of Knox, she then outlasted Beloit’s Hannah Perwin 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 and finished the stretch with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anele Novak of Division II Quincy. Unzicker teamed with Kimi Wegner as the Fighting Scots No. 1 doubles team and was 1-2 in that competition. Unzicker and Wegner downed Knox 8-4, but fell to Beloit and Quincy by identical 8-2 scores.

For the season, Unzicker is 9-4 overall at No. 1 singles and has won seven of her last 10 matches.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) had yet another record-setting performance last weekend and picked up his second Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week award this season.

Tanney broke Rob Purlee’s career passing yardage record in a 52-24 win over previously unbeaten St. Norbert Saturday. The junior threw for 361 yards to give him 8,188 passing yards in his career. With a season-and-a-half remaining in his career, Tanney surpassed Purlee’s mark of 8,017 yards set from 2000-03 as the Fighting Scots’ all-time leader. He connected for five aerial scores to five different receivers and completed 34-of-47 attempts (72 percent) with one interception to finish the game with a pass efficiency rating of 167.71. Playing in his 28^th career game, Tanney scored his first collegiate touchdown on a quarterback sneak with 8:44 left in the third quarter to put the Scots up 45-17.

For the year, Monmouth’s QB has completed over 70 percent of his passes for 1,886 yards and 23 TDs with just two interceptions for a rating of 166.80.

Monmouth moved up to No. 11 in the D3football.com poll and stayed put at No. 12 in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Leading from start-to-finish at last weekend’s Olde English Classic Invitational in Beloit, Wis., resulted in Monmouth College’s Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and Geoff Bird (Kenilworth, Ill.) earning this week’s Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor in women’s and men’s cross country, respectively.

The Olde English course layout included jumps over straw bales and three creek jumps, making for a slower course than the teams were accustomed to. That didn’t seem to hurt Beyer or Bird who both finished just ahead of a teammate.

Beyer clocked a 5,000-meter time of 19:43.8, setting a Monmouth record for the course. Even with the slower course layout, Beyer’s time is the seventh-fastest in the Midwest Conference for the 5K distance. She finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of teammate Katie Staab in second place, as the Fighting Scots took the women’s team title.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Freshman kicker Matt Batton (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) had a day to remember in Saturday’s 59-0 win over Grinnell and earned his first Midwest Conference Special Teams Performer of the Week honor.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Senior golfer Lynsey Barnard (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) had the best 36 holes of her season last weekend and was named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week for women’s golf.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) broke the school’s career touchdown passing record in a 58-0 win over Beloit last week and picked up the Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week honor.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College freshman Chelsey Widdop (Reynolds, Ill./Rockridge) made quite a collegiate volleyball debut last week and was named the season’s first Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Through the Fighting Scots’ first four matches, Widdop – a 5-foot-9 hitter – is averaging 2.64 kills per set with a .286 percentage. She’s also added in a team-high five sets by non-setters and leads the team with six ace serves.