-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending April 14 --
-- Sierra Hilgner, Softball --
Sierra Hilgner, a freshman from Divide, Colorado, had a big weekend for the Cougars as the infielder batted .583 for the four games against Luna in helping the Cougars win three of four games. Hilgner had an onbase average of .688 and had seven singles, 8 RBIs, 5 runs scored, 3 walks and 1 stolen base. Sierra had three putouts and eight assists on defense.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending April 14 --
-- Arturo Montiel, Baseball --
Arturo Montiel, a freshman catcher from Mexico City, Mexico, had a big game in the team's 22-12 win over Otero on Sunday. The freshman helped the Cougars tie a school record with eight home runs in one game. Montiel had three home runs in that game with six RBIs and four runs scored. Arturo was one home run away from tying the school record with home runs in a game, which is four set by Pete Rogers. For the week, Arturo was 5-of-15 with a .333 batting average with 9 RBIs, 6 runs scored, 3 home runs, and 1 double.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending April 9 --
-- Mykah Klumpp, Softball --
Mykah Klumpp, a freshman from Wichita, Kansas, had a nice 4-game series with NJC on Friday and Tuesday. For the four games, Mykah batted .462 (6-of-13) with a home run, three doubles, 7 RBIs, and three runs scored. She even had five putouts from her outfield position. She is batting .373 on the season with 18 RBIs and nine runs scored. The home run against NJC was her first of the year.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending April 9 --
-- Shintaro Inoue, Baseball --
Shintaro Inoue, a sophomore infielder from Japan, broke two WNCC career records in a 4-game series over Lamar. Shintaro was also named the Region IX Player of the Week as well. Shintaro broke the school career home record and career runs scored record. Shintaro now has 25 career home runs and 96 runs scored. For the weekend, Shintaro paced the offense hitting .750 (9-for-12) with three doubles, two home runs 12 RBIs and he also scored nine times and walked five times.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending March 24 --
-- Katelynn Czerpak, Softball --
Katelynn Czerpak, a sophomore from Aurora, Colorado, had a hit in all four games with Colby over the weekend. In the 4-3 win, Katelynn went 1-for-3 with a run scored with a stolen base and a walk. For the series, she was 4-for-11 with two runs scored. This season, Katelynn is hitting .393 with 29 stolen bases already this season. She has scored 22 runs.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending March 24 --
-- Hunter McCollum, Baseball --
Hunter McCollum, a sophomore pitcher/outfielder from Scottsbluff, had a big game in a 6-5 win over Luna on Saturday. Hunter missed hitting for the cycle in the win by a double, but had a big 2-run home run in the sixth to put the Cougars ahead. He had five RBIs in his 3-for-4 performance with two runs scored. For the three games that he hit in the series, Hunter was 5-of-12 for a .417 batting average with 6 RBIs and 4 runs scored.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending March 4 --
-- Madi VanRiper, Softball --
Madi VanRiper, a sophomore from Farmington, New Mexico, had a productive weekend along with some other players. VanRiper had a big game in the fourth-game of the series with Dawson where the thirdbaseman/catcher had a big double play and then a grand slam to help the Cougars to the 10-2 win. For the 4-game series, Madi batted just .250, but had a slugging percentage of .917 with a triple and two home runs. She also scored three runs, including the game-winning run in the 10-2 win. In that game, she had five RBIs with two runs scored, a triple, and a home run. For the series, she tallied nine put outs from either her third base or catcher position and just had one base stole on her when behind the plate.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending March 4 --
-- Kensei Oikawa, Baseball --
Kensei Oikawa, a freshman outfielder from Miyagi, Japan, had a big weekend for the Cougar baseball team in helping them to four wins over Dawson. Kensei led the team with a .714 batting average with an on-base percentage of .778. In the four games, Kensei went 5-of-7 from the plate with three singles, two doubles, four runs scored, and six RBIs along with two walks. His biggest game came in the opening contest when he had five RBIs in the win with two runs scored and three hits, including a double. For the year, Kensei is averaging .382 with 12 runs scored and eight RBIs with two doubles and 11 singles.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending February 14 --
-- Gal-La Font, Women's Basketball --
Gal-La Font, a red-shirt freshman from Barcelona, Spain, had a monster game against nationally-ranked NJC on Feb. 6 when she poured in a season-best 27 points. While she was hitting from the field, going 7-of-13 from the field, and she was an amazing 13-of-15 from the free throw line. She also had two steals in the contest with seven rebounds. The next week against NJC, she had six points and was just 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Gal-La is averaging 7.3 three points and 4.3 rebounds a contest.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending February 14 --
-- Travis Easterly, Jr., Men's Basketball --
Travis Easterly, Jr., a freshman from Youngstown, Ohio, had a big week in the last three games where he scored 41 points, including 16 points each in win over Northeastern Junior College in a week's span. In the first game against NJC on Feb. 6, Travis had two 3-pointers with his 16 points along with two assists. Then, six days later on Feb. 12, Travis scored 16 points once again by going 7-of-10 from the field to keep the Cougars in the hunt to win the South Sub-region.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending January 28 --
-- Laura Montiel, Women's Basketball --
Laura Montiel, a freshman from Granada, Spain, has been a spark for the Cougars on the defensive side but also has scored in double figures five of the last six games. Laura had a big game against McCook in a win where she registered seven steals along with four assists and four rebounds. She also 10 points in the 66-50 win. Laura has 83 steals already this season and is currently 19th in season steals, one behind last year's player Shiho Isono. She needs 17 more steals to register 100 and move into the top 10. She ranks seventh in the NJCAA in steals per game (3.6) and is second in total assists, just eight out of leading the nation.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending January 28 --
-- Willie Wilson, Men's Basketball --
Willie Wilson, a freshman from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been on a tear for the last two months. Willie has scored in double figures 13 straight games and last week in wins over North Platte and McCook, the freshman shooter had a combined 31 points and with just one 3-pointer. In an overtime win over North Platte, Willie had 19 points with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. In the win over McCook Wilie had four assists and four steals to go with his 12 points. Willie is averaging 11 points a contest and shooting 51 percent from the field. Willie needs one more double-figure game to move into the record book with 14 straight games of scoring in double figures at No. 30. The record is 46 consecutive games set by Terry Yancey in 1984-86 seasons.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending January 14 --
-- Gal-La Font, Women's Basketball --
Gal-La Font, a red-shirt freshman from Barcelona, Spain, had a consistent three games last week and did the little things in the contests. In a win over Eastern Wyoming on January 8, GGal-La scored 15 points with five rebounds. She also had a seven-rebound and nine-point game against Western Wyoming. In the fouir games, she scored 40 points and hit five 3-pointers. She has nailed a trey in six straight games.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending January 14 --
-- Kayden Nation, Men's Basketball --
Kayden Nation, a freshman from Peoria, Illinois, had two big games last week in wins, scoring over 20 points in both wins. Against Eastern Wyoming, had had 20 points with four 3-pointers while in a win over Western Wyoming, Kayden had 22 points with five 3-pointers. Kayden is averaging 11.5 points a contest while shooting 45.2 percent from the 3-point arc.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending December 14 --
-- Faith Walker, Women's Basketball --
Faith Walker, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Michigan, had a huge game to help the Cougar women win their 10th straight with a 66-64 win over Laramie County. Walker had a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, but her five blocks proved big, including a big block with three seconds to play to secure the win for the Cougars. Faith is averaging 10.5 points and 7.9 rebounds a game this season.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending December 14 --
-- Daniel Bula, Men's Basketball --
Daniel Bula, a sophomore from Belgium, wrapped up the first semester with a big game against Miles Community College on December 9, scoring 21 points and having nine rebounds in the 101-91 win. Daniel is averaging 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest while shooting 46 percent from the field, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 78 percent from the charity stripe.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending December 3 --
-- Mackenzie Joseph, Women's Basketball
Mackenzie Joseph, a sophomore guard from Vinton, Louisiana, had a big three games after Thanksgiving in helping the Cougars to wins over EWC, Casper, and Southern Idaho when she scored 51 points, 14 rebounds, and buried 11 treys in the three games. In the game against Casper, Mackenzie had 26 points with six 3-pointers and then in a win over CSI, she had 15 points, seven rebounds, and three treys.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending December 3 --
-- Willie Wilson, Men's Basketball --
Willie Wilson, a freshman from Minneapolis, Minnesota, had a good week after Thanksgiving in games against EWC and Jump Start Academy. The freshman guard finished with a total of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five 3-pointers. Against EWC, Willie had 15 points, four rebounds, and three treys, while against Jump Start, Willie had 10 points, six rebounds, and two treys.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for Week Ending November 12 --
-- Ebere Egbirika, Women's Basketball --
Ebere Egbirika, a freshman from London, England, had back-to-back double-figure games for the Lady Cougars last weekend. In a 73-56 loss to Western Wyoming Community College on Friday, Ebere had 17 points with 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. On Saturday, Ebere helped the Cougars to an 80-61 win over Laramie County with a 13-point effort and 2-for-2 from the line. Ebere is averaging 11 points a game.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending November 12 --
-- Maurice Walker, Men's Basketball --
Maurice Walker, a sophomore from Denver, Colorado, was part of the WNCC men's basketball comeback win over Northwest Kansas Technical College on Saturday when the Cougars were down by nine points with 30 seconds to play in regulation and captured the 99-95 double overtime win. Walker finished the game with 23 points, including five 3-pointers and going 4-of-4 from the line. Walker is averaging 11.8 points a game in four games this season and shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending November 5 --
-- Helena Kuck, Women's Basketball --
Helena Kuck, a freshman guard from Blumenau, Brazil, had a good opening week for the Cougars, where she finished with 37 points in three games. Helena had 15 points in the season-opener against Colorado State Club with four 3-pointers and followed that up with a double-double performance of 16 points and 10 assists in a win over Gillete College, where she also had five 3-pointers. She also had six points with two treys against Central Wyoming. Helena is seventh with the most treys in the nation so far in the young season.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending November 5 --
-- JJ Harris, Men's Basketball --
JJ Harris, a freshman from Tallahassee, Florida, had a big game in the Cougar's opener against Casper College on November 1. Harris tallied 15 points including four 3-pointers and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Harris also had two steals, two assists, and two rebounds. Plus, Harris was one of three Cougar players that helped out Saturday with the annual Warrior Run.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for Week Ending October 15 --
Shanelle Martinez, a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, led the team in digs from her setting position in the two home matches last weekend against Lamar and McCook. Martinez had 17 digs and 47 set assists in a win over Lamar and then had 17 digs and 27 set assists against McCook. For the three matches last week, Martinez tallied seven kills, 104 set assists, three ace serves, 42 digs, and five assisted blocks.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending October 15 --
Eduarado Oliveira, a sophomore from Cuiaba, had the winning goal in WNCC's 1-0 win over Laramie County Community College to wrap up the regular season. Oliveira scored with 16 minutes to play on a penalty kick for the only goal of the match.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for Week Ending October 1 --
Lesley Vasquez, a sophomore from Denver, Colorado, scored two goals in the Cougars win over Northeastern Junior College on Friday and then had two assists to teammate Tania Razo in a tie with Lamar on Saturday. For the season, Lesley has scored five goals.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending October 1 --
Roberto Rivero, a freshman, had the game-tying goal in a contest with Northeastern Junior College last Friday to help the Cougars to the 1-1 tie against the Plainsmen. That was his first goal of the season.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for Week September 11 --
Aileen Perez, a sophomore from Thornton, Colorado, had a good week in helping the Cougar women in two conference games. Aileen had an assist in the contest against Northwest. In the Central Wyoming contest, Aileen scored both goals to help the Cougars come from behind to earn a tie. One of the goals was a penalty kick.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week September 11 --
Eduarado Oliveira, a sophomore from Cuiaba, scored a total of four goals in the two conference wins over Northwest and Central Wyoming last weekend. Eduarado scored two goals in the 6-1 win over Northwest and then had two goals and two assists in the 5-3 come-from-behind win over Central Wyoming.
-- Female Athlete of the Week for Week September 4 --
Yasmin Urbina, a freshman from Brush, Colorado, has scored a goal in all three matches the Cougar women have played this season. Yasmin scored the only goal for the Cougars in teh 7-1 loss to Casper College. The freshman forward then scored one goal and added two assists in teh 4-0 win over Central Wyoming College on Monday.
-- Male Athlete of the Week for Week Ending September 4 --
Isrrael Rodriguez, a freshman from Miami, Florida, scored goals in both matches against Casper and Central Wyoming over the weekend. Against Casper, Isrrael scored the only goal of the match in the 1-0 win over the Thunderbirds. Isrrael also scored the tying goal in the 3-2 win over Central Wyoming. Isrrael is a graduate of Miami Beach High School.
Female Athlete of the Week -- Sierra Hilgner
April 15, 2024-- Female Athlete of the Week for the Week Ending April 14 -- -- Sierra Hilgner, Softball -- Sierra Hilgner, a freshman from Divide, Colorado, had a big weekend for the Cougars as the infielder batted .583 for the four games against Luna in helping the Cougars win three of four games. Hilgner had an onbase average of .688 and had seven singles, 8 RBIs, 5 runs scored, 3 walks and 1 stolen base. Sierra had three putouts and eight assists on defense.
