Coe College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Coe's Sprinkel picked for NCAA tennis

INDIANAPOLIS - Coe junior Noah Sprinkel has been selected to play in the NCAA National Singles Championships later this month in California for the second straight year.

Of the 32 players in the singles field, Sprinkel will be one of eight returners from last year's event. He was defeated 6-4, 7-5 by Andrew Yaraghi of Amherst in the first round in 2013.

This marks the 12th time in school history a male will play in the NCAA National Singles Championships. Sprinkel becomes the fourth Kohawk to earn two bids to the championships. Jon Turbett, Johnny Watson and Nick Barnes all qualified three times during their careers.

The NCAA National Singles Championships will take place May 22-24 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif. The pairings for the tournament will be announced on May 21.

Woodruff, Timmons win IIAC honors

Maddison Woodruff of Coe College has been named the Pitcher of the Year in the Iowa Conference, the league announced Monday.

Woodruff has compiled a 20-2 record and 1.90 ERA this season, with 157 strikeouts and three shutouts.

Bob Timmons of Coe has been named the Coach of the Year for the fifth time after leading the Kohawks to the NCAA tournament with a 35-8 record. He ranks No.2 all-time on the NCAA Division III winning list with a 926-364 record.

The Kohawks garnered six spots on the all-conference teams. Woodruff and outfielder Nicole Gentile were named to the first team. Catcher Abby Flannagan, pitcher Arran Weeces, outfielder Danielle Schlotterbeck and outfielder Brianna Gardner were named to the second.

Flannagan was named all-conference for the fourth straight year.

Coe won the regular-season title in the Iowa Conference and finished second in the league tournament.

Coe tennis teams hit road for NCAAs

The Coe College men's and women's tennis teams will be heading to St. Louis this week for the NCAA Tournament.

It is the second straight year both programs will be in St. Louis for the tournament. Both teams advanced to the national tournament after winning Iowa Conference titles.

The Coe women (19-5) will face Grinnell (16-7) on Thursday. The Coe men (24-7) will meet Earlham (16-6) in the first round Friday.

The women earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals by defeating Luther two weeks ago in the IIAC Automatic Qualifier Tournament. This is the fifth appearance in the NCAA's for the Kohawks as they also qualified in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013. Coe is 4-4 all-time in the tournament and has never lost a first-round match.

The Coe women defeated Grinnell, 5-4, April 19 in the regular-season finale. The Pioneers earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Midwest Conference Championship. Coe is ranked 14th in the ITA Central Region, while Grinnell is ranked 15th.

Washington University in St. Louis (17-5), ranked ninth in the country and first in the region, will await the winner on Friday in the winner's tournament. On the other side of the women's bracket, Edgewood (19-8) will face 25th-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater (20-5). The winner will advance to take on 11th-ranked DePauw (18-4). The regional final is set for Saturday.

The Coe men's tennis team faced Earlham in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament as well. Coe is ranked eighth in the ITA Central Region, while Earlham is 10th.

The winner of Friday's match will face second-ranked Washington University of St. Louis (19-2) in the second round. Coe defeated Earlham, 5-3, last year before falling, 5-1, to Washington University in the second round.

On the other half of the bracket, Sewanee (14-6) will face Elmhurst (16-4) Friday, with the winner taking on 13th-ranked Whitman (19-4) Saturday. The men's regional final is scheduled for Sunday.

This will be the 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Kohawks (1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012 and 2013). Coe is 4-9 all-time (.308) in the NCAA Tournament. Coe owns a 2-1 record this year against teams in the NCAA Tournament, as they defeated Grinnell 8-1 and Elmhurst 9-0.

Coe hosting NCAA softball regional

The ninth-ranked Coe College softball team has been selected to host a regional for the NCAA Division III Championships this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Kohawks earned an at-large berth into the field of 62 teams.

The three teams Coe will welcome to Clarke Field are Augustana (Ill.), St. Scholastica (Minn.) and St. Thomas (Minn).

Augustana, the runnerup in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, enters play ranked 19th by the NFCA and boasting a 33-11 record.

St. Scholastica, winner of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, is 27-10 and currently riding a 21-game winning streak.

St. Thomas, ranked 15th by the NFCA with a 36-5 record, comes into regional play as the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champs and has won 20 consecutive games.

The Kohawks are scheduled to play St. Scholastica in their first game Friday, with a starting time to be announced. The winner of that matchup will play the winner of the Augustana-St. Thomas game.

The winner of this four-team region will face the winner of the Pella Region, which features Central, North Central (Ill.), Washington-St.Louis and Luther in a Super Regional.

This is the 14th appearance in the NCAA Regionals for Coe and it is the ninth in the last 10 years. During that stretch, the Kohawks have won two regional championships, advancing to the NCAA College World Series in 2006 and 2009.

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