March 14, 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Eight Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) basketball players, six women and two men, were named to the sixth annual d3hoops.com All-West Region Teams.

Iowa Conference women’s Champion Luther College had two First Team selections in IIAC Most Valuable Player, sophomore Blair Ernst (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) and senior Christina Gaard (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah). Loras College junior Natalie Pucci (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) and Buena Vista freshman Margo Muhlbauer (Manilla, Iowa/IKM) received d3hoops.com All-West Region Second Team honors. Coe College junior Amber Karkosh (Toledo, Iowa/South Tama) and Simpson College junior Katelyn Whiton (Panora, Iowa/Perry) were Third Team picks.

On the men’s side, Conference MVP Kyle White (Antioch, Ill./Antioch), a junior from Loras and Central College senior Clint Driftmier (Clarinda, Iowa/South Page) were both named to the d3hoops.com Men’s All-West Region Second Team. Driftmier was a First Team All-Region pick last year.

The eight IIAC players selected to this year’s All-West Region Teams equal the second most Conference players named to the d3hoops.com All-Region Teams since its inception in 2001-02. Nine IIAC basketball players were named to the inaugural All-Region Team. Eight players were also honored in 2002-03. The six women’s All-Region selections are the Conference’s second-best showing after the eight chosen in 2001-02.

Players were nominated for these awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools, who were contacted several times as the season wound down to remind them to make their players eligible. There were 638 players nominated nationwide. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for 10 players in their region. SIDs voted for six frontcourt players and four backcourt players, to insure balance.

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