Sigwarth, Wilgenbusch Headline Duhawks’ Ten A-R-C Weekly Honors
A busy weekend for Loras College athletics culminated in an award-filled Monday as the Duhawks earned ten American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Player of the Week awards, including sweeping the Male and Female Athletes of the Week with senior football quarterback Noah Sigwarth (’22) taking the nod in addition to Offensive Player of the Week and women’s volleyball senior Lyndsi Wilgenbusch (’22) taking the Female Athlete and Offensive Player of the Week honors. Loras also swept the cross country awards, both men’s soccer offensive and defensive players, football’s defensive selection and women’s soccer’s defensive award.
Sigwarth had an all-time performance on Saturday, helping the Loras football team to a 55-34 win against Buena Vista University to open conference play. He had six passing touchdowns, tied for second all-time in a single game, with 395 passing yards, which ranks fourth all-time. He sits fourth for career passing yards with 5,099 and has 37 career touchdowns with more of the season to go. The fifth-year Dubuque native also had two rushing touchdowns and helped run the Duhawks’ offense in a second-half surge that gave Loras the home-field win.
Wilgenbusch had a career-best performance on Saturday on the second day of the Loras Invite, posting 24 kills in Loras volleyball’s 3-1 win against Saint Mary’s University and is earning her first career Offensive Player of the Week honor. Through the week, the Epworth, Iowa, native had 66 kills in four matches, posting double figures in each match and amassing a .365 hitting percentage and helped the Duhawks continue the momentum for a seven-match win streak that began Sept. 4. Loras is now 10-1 on the season and 1-0 in A-R-C play.
On the cross country course, the Duhawks collected both Male and Female Runners of the Week. Ryan Harvey (’24) earning his first career honor after leading the No. 15-ranked Duhawks to a third-place finish overall at the National Catholic Championship, hosted by the University of Notre Dame, on Friday. The Bartlett, Ill., native was the first non-Division I runner to finish, placing eleventh overall in the five-mile race (25:51.3). For the second straight week, senior Kassie Rosenbum (’22) was named the Female Runner of the Week after placing sixth at the National Catholic Championship behind five runners from the host Fighting Irish. The Guttenberg, Iowa, native traversed the 5,000-meter course in 17:50.7 and helped the No. 34-ranked Duhawks to a sixth-place team finish, the highest among Division III programs. Rosenbum is a ten-time Runner of the Week award winner.
Joining Sigwarth with football honors is senior defensive back Jack Foley (’22), who was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Foley grabbed an interception off Buena Vista’s opening drive and had a team-high seven tackles, including one tackle for loss. This is the Rockford, Ill., native’s second career Player of the Week honor.
On the soccer pitch, senior Payton McDonnell (’22) grabbed the Defensive Player of the Week honor for the No. 20-ranked women’s soccer team as she dished a pair of assists in Loras’ 3-2 overtime win against Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday, including the game-winner. She helped the Duhawks’ defense limit opponents to two goals as Loras went 2-0 with a 1-0 win against North Central College on Wednesday. The Arlington Heights, Ill., native sits third all-time in program history for career assists and currently leads the league and is now a two-time Defensive Player of the Week selection.
Both earning their first career Player of the Week awards, men’s soccer student-athletes Alex Beausoleil (’23) and Connor Fitzpatrick (’22) swept the accolades for the Duhawks. Beausoleil had a career-best two goals in Loras’ 4-0 win against Millikin University on Saturday. The Wheaton, Ill., native had five shots in a pair of games and helped generate offense that propelled the Duhawks to another 4-0 win on the week against Monmouth College. Fitzpatrick tallied 180 minutes in goal in the two games and grabbed four total saves for his first two career shutouts on the defensive end. The cohesion on offense and defense for the Duhawks has the team off to a 5-1-1 start for the 2021 season.
