Jessie Juenemann 

“I am ready to compete again. It has been a very slow start to our season because of the weather, so I am grateful for every chance we have to compete even if it is 3 hours away. I am honored to be called athlete of the week and MIAC women’s field AOW and hope to represent the Pipers’ Track and Field team well at every meet I compete at,” sophomore Jessie Juenemann said regarding competing and winning Athlete of the Week.            

Juenemann has  just two years of experience of college sports but is a force to be reckoned with nonetheless. Breaking records, she set for herself and with a fierce competitive streak, she has been announced as the Athlete of the Week after a formidable showing. Juenemann competes in shot put and discus for the Pipers’ track and field team. On Apr. 11, during the Twilight Invite meet which was held at Klas field, she threw the discus for an impressive 143-05.  The throw won comfortably by 26 feet and was the best throw by any MIACer this spring. Juenemann ranks 11th in the country.

        On the meet, she also had a successful outing in the shot-put event by securing 2nd place with a 33-10.25 effort. She also holds the record for the best throw in that event this spring by any MIACer during a meet in Arizona with a 36-8.25 last month.

        Juenemann and her teammates have the MIAC Outdoor Track/Field meet coming up which will be held at Carleton on May 11-12 against challenging competition like Wis-La Crosse and Concordia (Moorhead).

Nick Kukurich

        Nick Kukurich from Appleton, Wis. is having an exceptional season for the Piper baseball team. At shortstop, the senior has been on base six times on nine times at bats, driving in four runs and scoring three times in a performance that earned him the honor of being named athlete of the week. On April 19th, the Pipers split a doubleheader with Concordia where they lost in the first game, 6-3, before they bounced back in a flashy fashion in the second game which saw them win by a score of 11-2.

        Kukurich has been a part of that success and is having a streak of his own going. A 6-game hitting tear that saw him raised his batting average by 124 points, .298.

        In another double header, which is a baseball term for when two teams play two games against each other in the same day, Kukurich showed up against Northwestern University. He started out with a two RBI single to cap a three run first inning in the second game after going 1-for-3 in the first game. In the sixth inning, he doubled to help another three-run eruption. Kukurich kept going with a two RBI homer to left center in the eighth inning to close out the game. The Pipers currently sit with a record of 6-10.