MEN’S BASKETBALL

Hayfield grad Cole Kruger has had a successful first season at Division III Saint Mary’s University this season after transferring from Division II Upper Iowa University.

Kruger has played in 15 games, and he’s averaging 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and .8 steals per game, while shooting 30.8 percent on three-pointers.

Kruger played 34 minutes and tallied 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting in a 73-68 loss to Concordia Moorehead Jan. 21. The Cardinals are 5-10 overall.

Austin grads Zach Wessels and Tom Aase both played big roles over the weekend for the University of Sioux Falls.

The Cougars beat Concordia-St. Paul 93-70 Jan. 21 and Wessels racked up 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting, while compiling six rebounds, five assists and committing zero turnovers.

Asae had two points and one block in that game.

In a loss a 68-67 loss to Minnesota State University Jan. 20, Aase had seven points and six rebounds and Wessels had six points and six rebounds.

The Cougars are now 13-9 overall and 9-5 in the Northern Sun Conference.

Austin grad Bret Lukes had four points in 18 minutes for Hamline University in a 94-70 loss to Bethel University Jan. 21.

Lukes had four points and an assist in 22 minutes in an 86-84 OT loss to Saint John’s. The Pipers are now 10-5 overall and 7-3 in the MIAC.

Austin grad Gach Gach stepped up for North Dakota State College of Science in an 82-72 win over Williston State Jan. 23.

Gach had 26 points, four rebounds and three assists, while going 8-for-12 on three-pointers.

Gach has recently received scholarship offers from Division I Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Division II Minnesota State University Moorhead and Division II West Texas A & M.

Austin grad Ajuda Nywesh has transferred from Division I University of Tennessee-Martin to Division II Minnesota State Moorhead, which currently leads the Northern Sun Conference North Division with a record of 17-3 overall.

Nywesh played at Lake Region State College for two years after graduating from Austin High School in 2014.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Southland grad Jana Schammel had 12 points and four rebounds for John Brown University in an 81-70 Jan. 19.

John Brown, which is located in Arkansas, is 12-6 overall.

Blooming Prairie grad Taylor Hagen had nine points and three rebounds for the University of Northern Iowa as it beat Loyola 68-30 Jan. 22.

The Panthers are now 15-4 on the season.

Pacelli grad Sarah Holtz had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists for Luther College in an 81-80 loss to the University of Dubuque.

Austin grad Mer Gach had six points and two rebounds for Lake Region State College as it beat Jamestown JV 84-72 Jan. 22.

Lake Region is 11-7 overall.

Austin grad Jenna Svoboda had nine points and 10 rebounds for RCTC as it lost 63-55 to Luther JV Jan. 20.

SWIMMING

Austin grad Nick Brehmer was part of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 200-yard freestyle relay team that brooke the UW La Crosse pool record.

The team put up a new record time of 1:23.51 in a weekend meet against Oshkosh and the old record was 1:23.9.

Brehmer’s relay team also broke a pool record at Luther College when they finished with a time of 1:27.52 Jan. 14.

Brehmer is a senior at UW-La Crosse and the team has two more meets remaining before the WIAC Conference Championships in Brown Deer, Wis. Feb. 16 to Feb. 18.

TRACK AND FIELD

A pair of former Austin teammates were in the field of competition at the Jim Emmerich Invite in Brookings, S.D.

Austin grad Carolyn Hackel, who is now running for Minnesota State University in Mankato, finished seventh in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.98 seconds, she took 14th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.27 seconds

Austin grad Rachel Quandt took 32nd with a time of 9.91 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.