5 Willamette Athletes Named Player of the Week

Nikki Franchi is 4-2 with a 1.24 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings pitched this season.

Nikki Franchi (Jr., RHP/DP, Los Gatos, CA/Saratoga HS) was chosen NWC Softball Player of the Week. Photo: Kevin Hays

SALEM, Ore. - A total of five Willamette University athletes have been honored by the Northwest Conference for their efforts in spring sports during the week ending March 16.

Nikki Franchi (Jr., RHP/DP, Los Gatos, CA/Saratoga HS) was chosen NWC Softball Player of the Week. Kyle Kotaich (So., Florence, OR/Siuslaw HS), Jena Winger (Jr., Bonney Lake, WA/Sumner HS), Grant Piros (Jr., Newberg, OR/Newberg HS) and Brooke Smith (Jr., Idleyld Park, OR/Glide HS) were selected as NWC Athletes of the Week in track and field.

NWC Softball Player of the Week

Franchi hit .833 during the week, helping Willamette defeat Pacific Lutheran in two NWC games on Sunday, March 16. She was 3 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs in the opener, won by Willamette 5-1. Franchi went 2 for 3 with 1 run and 2 RBIs in the second game, which Willamette won 5-4. She hit three doubles during the doubleheader. She also earned a complete-game win in the opener and picked up a save in the nightcap.

For the season, Franchi is batting .645 with 13 runs scored and 14 RBIs. As a pitcher, she 4-2 with a 1.24 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings pitched.

NWC Men's Track Athlete of the Week

Kotaich took second place in the 800-meter run at the Willamette/WOU/SOU Meet on Saturday, March 15. His time of 1:55.48 was just 0.40 seconds behind winner Jeff Long from Western Oregon. Kotaich’s time also was only 2.28 seconds off the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying standard and was nearly three seconds faster than the previous best in the NWC this spring.

NWC Women's Track Athlete of the Week

Winger won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Willamette/WOU/SOU Meet with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 10:51.06. She also established a Willamette school record, breaking her own record of 10:52.71, set last year. Winger’s record-setting run last season also was a provisional qualifying mark. She competed at the 2007 NCAA National Championships.

NWC Men's Field Athlete of the Week

Piros won the decathlon at the Willamette/WOU/SOU Meet on March 15with a career-best score of 5,958. As part of the decathlon, he threw the javelin a career-best 200’4” surpassing the NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the second year in a row. He competed in the javelin at the 2007 NCAA National Championships. Piros missed the provisional qualifying standard in the decathlon by just 42 points.

NWC Women's Field Athlete of the Week

Smith won the heptathlon at the Willamette/WOU/SOU Meet with 4,068 points and missed the provisional qualifying mark by just 32 points. She scored her highest point totals in the 100-meter hurdles (15.88 seconds, 729 pts.), the high jump (5'1.75”, 701 pts.) and the javelin (120'10", 607 pts.). Her overall score set a new personal record.

Source: Willamette Athletics

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