CEDAR
RAPIDS, IOWA . . . With the close of the 2010 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships last weekend came the end of the 2009-10 Iowa Conference sporting calendar. As such, the IIAC announced today that Wartburg College swept the league’s All-Sports Championship Awards, indicative of the league's top men's and women's programs as well as the top program overall. Wartburg College captured its eighth consecutive Iowa Conference All-Sports Championship Trophy, its 13th straight Elmer Hertel Men’s Sports Championship Trophy, and its seventh Marjorie Giles Women’s Sports Championship Trophy in nine years.
The IIAC All-Sports Championship Trophy is determined by each school’s finish in the Giles and Hertel Trophy standings. Schools earn points in the Giles and Hertel Trophy standings based on its finish in each of the Conference’s nine women’s sports and 10 men’s sports, receiving nine points for a first-place finish, eight points for a second-place finish, etc.
Wartburg has captured the Iowa Conference All-Sports Championship Trophy each year since its inception in 2002-03. By finishing first in both the Giles and Hertel Trophy races, Wartburg posted a total of 18 points. Luther finished second in the IIAC All-Sports Championship Trophy standings with 15 points, two points ahead of third-place Central, and three points clear of fourth-place Coe.
Behind a league title in wrestling, three runner-up finishes (indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and baseball), and three third-place finishes (soccer, football, tennis), Wartburg totaled 62 points. The Knights also finished fourth in cross country and golf, and took sixth in basketball. The institution has now won 16 Elmer Hertel Men’s Sports Championship trophies, breaking the Conference record of 15 it shared with Central.
Central (60) won a league-high five titles in 2009-10 (football, basketball, golf, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field) while also placing third in baseball and fourth in tennis on the way to a runner-up finish for the Hertel Trophy. Luther (57.2) won titles in cross country and tennis. Coe (48.6) did not win a league men's title in 2009-10 but placed fourth on the strength of runner-up finishes in cross country, football, wrestling, and tennis and a fourth-place finish in baseball. 2009 IIAC soccer champion Loras (42.3) was fifth, while 2010 baseball champion Buena Vista (34.8) placed seventh.
Wartburg won the Giles Women’s Sports Championship Trophy for the eighth time since the inception of the award in 1982-83. Behind four Iowa Conference titles (golf, cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field), the Knights totaled 57 points to edge Luther (55.9) and Simpson (55.5). Wartburg also tied for second in volleyball, placed third in basketball and tennis, fourth in soccer, and tied for seventh in softball.
Luther took second behind top-four finishes in seven of nine sports, including titles in tennis and soccer, runner-up finishes in cross country, volleyball (tie), and softball, and fourth-place finishes in golf and outdoor track & field. Simpson took titles in volleyball, basketball (tie), and softball, was runner-up in both indoor and outdoor track & field, and was third in golf. Fourth-place Coe (39.8) was the only institution outside of the top three to capture Iowa Conference team gold in 2009-10 with a tie with Simpson for the basketball title.
