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Issued: January 22, 2008

THREE BLUGOLD ATHLETES RECEIVE CONFERENCE HONORS

MADISON, Wis. – UW-Eau Claire women’s basketball forward Michelle Burns (Sr.-Eau Claire, Wis./North), men’s basketball player Geoff Probst (So.-Moose Lake, Minn.) and women’s track athlete Liz Kooistra (Jr.-Lakeville, Minn.) have been named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) players of the week, conference spokesman Matt Stanek has announced.

Burns helped the Blugolds remain unbeaten in the WIAC with two road wins and also became the 13th player in school history to top the 1,000-point mark for her career. Scored a season-high 24 points in a 62-54 win at Oshkosh, a place where none of the current Blugolds had ever won. Burns came back with 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-50 triumph at River Falls to increase her season total to 208 points and her career total to 1,011 points. In 73 minutes of playing time last week, she hit 13 of 25 from the field (52 percent) and 16 of 18 from the free throw line (88.9 percent). She also pulled 18 rebounds with two assists and two steals. She is the team’s second leading scorer for the season with a 13.0 average. She has steadily increased her scoring average throughout her career, going from 10.6 as a freshman to 11.5 as a sophomore to 12.3 as a junior and to 13.0 this season. She is also the team’s rebound leader this year with a 5.9 average.

Probst played all but one minute in two games and scored 39 points to lead the Blugolds to a pair of conference triumphs, including a 57-54 decision over previous league leader Oshkosh. With team scoring leader Dan Beyer in foul trouble, Probst picked up the slack against Oshkosh, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds. He came back with 26 points in a four-point road win at River Falls, just two shy of the career-high 28 he totaled in an overtime win over Marian three weeks ago. For the week, Probst was 14 of 25 from the field (56 percent) including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. He also nailed all seven his free throw attempts. In addition, he pulled 13 rebounds, passed for five assists, picked up four steals and blocked one shot.

Kooistra won the 800-meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:16.35 in the Blugold Open. She beat St. Thomas’ Katie Theisen who was clocked in 2:16.74. The two ran away from the field which included 25 participants in that event. No one else was under 2:20.

- TP -

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