BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for basketball, hockey, and tennis on Monday. Student-athletes from Augsburg, Carleton, Concordia, Gustavus, Hamline, Saint Mary's, St. Olaf, and St. Scholastica claimed the Conference's weekly honors for February 13-19, 2023.
The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference's sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Throughout the winter season, team sports (basketball, hockey, and tennis) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (swimming & diving and indoor track & field) announced on Tuesday afternoons. The winners of the latest Athlete of the Week awards are listed below, along with details on their outstanding performances.
To view each sport's 2022-23 Athlete of the Week home page, navigate to the 2022-23 Athlete of the Week archive for complete details on each week's selections and winners.
MIAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week
Raheem Anthony
Saint Mary's University
Sr. | Guard
Chicago, Ill. | DePaul College Prep
Raheem Anthony averaged 31.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while leading the Cardinals to a pair of conference wins last week to earn the program's third MIAC Playoff berth in the last five seasons. Anthony scored 29 points and added five rebounds in SMU’s playoff-clinching rout of Bethel on 2/15 before adding a 33-point, 13-rebound effort against Gustavus three days later. For the week, Anthony shot 60.0 percent from the field (21-for-35) with three 3-pointers and added a near-perfect 17-of-18 effort from the free throw line. The senior finished with 18 rebounds, 14 assists, six steals and one block, while playing 77 of the possible 80 minutes. Anthony capped his 11th double-double of the season with his 33 points - the sixth time this season he has scored 30 or more points - and 13 rebounds against the Gusties on 2/18.
MIAC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week
Austin Holt
Hamline University
So. | Forward
Highlands Ranch, Colo. | Thunder Ridge
Austin Holt totaled 15 rebounds, six steals, and a pair of blocked shots in a 1-1 week for the Pipers. Holt had nine boards and five steals with one block in a win over Gustavus on 2/15 before coralling six more boards, one block, and one steal in the team's buzzer-beater loss to Concordia on 2/18.
MIAC Women's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week
Lexi Imdieke
The College of St. Scholastica
Fy. | Guard
Andover, Minn.
Lexi Imdieke averaged 19.5 points over two games for the Saints last week. Imdieke led all scorers with 21 points in a loss to St. Olaf on 2/15. She once again led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 51-49 loss to Carleton on 2/18.
MIAC Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week
Paige Yagodinski
St. Olaf College
So. | Forward
Beaver Dam, Wis.
Paige Yagodinski posted 11 steals last week - including nine in the Oles' de facto playoff win versus St. Catherine on 2/18 - to help the program secure its first berth in the six-team MIAC Playoffs since 2014. Yagodinski had nine steals - the most by an Ole since at least 2005 and the most in any MIAC game this season - to help St. Olaf overcome a 34-14 halftime deficit and hold St. Catherine to 12 second-half points in the 58-46 playoff-clinching victory. Yagodinski also had six rebounds and a blocked shot last week.
MIAC Men's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Carsen Richels
The College of St. Scholastica
Jr. | Forward
Ham Lake, Minn. | Blaine
Carsen Richels scored four goals and added two assists in a six-point weekend for the Saints. Richels scored three goals to earn his first collegiate hat trick in a conference championship-clinching tie with Augsburg on 2/17. Richels’s third goal tied the game at the 18:45 mark of the final period and he ended up as the lone scorer in the shootout to give the Saints an extra point in the conference standings. He also had an assist in the game. Richels then extended his point streak to seven consecutive games with another goal and an assist in the regular season finale on 2/18.
MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Matt Fitzgerald
Concordia College
Jr. | Goaltender
Bemidji, Minn.
Matt Fitzgerald stopped 68 of the 70 shots he faced in the Cobbers' sweep at Saint Mary's which clinched a spot in the MIAC Playoffs. Fitzgerald stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced on 2/17 and then made 30 saves in the series win on 2/18. Fitzgerald is now 7-2-1 in his last 10 starts.
MIAC Women's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Julianna Teske
Augsburg University
Jr. | Forward
Warroad, Minn.
Julianna Teske earned a hat trick on 2/17 and added an assist on 2/18 for a four-point weekend as the Auggies swept St. Scholastica to secure the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Playoffs. Teske, who had scored just one goal in her first 59 career games, tied the game for the Auggies with a goal at the 14:24 mark of the second period, then added the final two goals of the contest at the 11:43 mark of the third period and on an empty-netter with 3:30 left for her first collegiate hat trick in Augsburg's 6-2 win at St. Scholastica on 2/17. She then assisted on an empty-net goal in Augsburg's 5-2 home win on 2/18.
MIAC Women's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Katie McCoy
Gustavus Adolphus College
Sr. | Goaltender
Grafton, Wis. | Cedarburg
Katie McCoy picked up two more wins for the Gusties over the weekend while posting a goals-against average of 0.52 versus MIAC Playoff-bound St. Olaf. McCoy logged her NCAA-leading ninth shutout of the season with 10 saves against the Oles on 2/17 before adding 12 more stops in the series victory on 2/18.
MIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week
Tarm Rojanasoonthon
Carleton College
So.
Bangkok, Thailand | Chulalongkorn
Tarm Rojanasoonthon had dramatic wins in both single and doubles as the Knights downed Grinnell College on 2/18. He paired with Ozzie Viswanathan for an 8-7 (9-7) win at No. 1 doubles, then improved to 6-0 in singles play this season with a three-set victory (6-4, 2-6, 6-4) at No. 1 singles.
MIAC Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week
Olha Zubarieva
St. Olaf College
So.
Kyiv, Ukraine | Research School Basis
Olha Zubarieva recorded wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in the Oles' 8-1 victory over St. Scholastica on 2/19. The sophomore paired with Allie Prokosch for an 8-5 win atop the doubles lineup before recording a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at No. 1 singles to improve to 4-1 in singles this season.