Week of April 21-27, 2008


Ryan Dunn
Men's Tennis

Ryan Dunn became the first Lawrence men's tennis player in 40 years to win the No. 1 singles title at the Midwest Conference Championships when he took the crown on April 26. The sophomore from Fond du Lac, Wis., beat Grinnell's Dan LaFountaine 6-1, 7-6 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Dunn, who avenged a loss earlier this season to LaFountaine, is the first Lawrence player to win the top singles flight since Pat Kenney did it in 1968. Dick Rine won at No. 1 singles in 1955 and 1957, and John Schmerein won a pair of top singles titles in 1938 and 1939. Dunn had to go three sets in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. He beat Monmouth College's Kyle Korb 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarters and then topped Knox College's Jared Katchen 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the semis.

Rob Lawson
Track and Field

Rob Lawson won the discus competition to pace Lawrence at the Wisconsin Private College Championships on April 26. Lawson, a junior from Mosinee, Wis., threw a personal-best 145 feet, 10 inches, topping his previous best throw (127-1 in the 2007 season) by nearly 19 feet. Lawson also took ninth in the hammer throw (124-11) and 19th in the shotput (36-2.75).

Carrie Van Groll
Softball

Carrie Van Groll provided a dramatic ending to the Lawrence softball season with a pair of home runs against the University of Chicago on April 27. A senior shortstop from Kaukauna, Wis., Van Groll hit a dramatic three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning in the nightcap of the doubleheader to tie the game at 4-4. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Van Groll hit another three-run homer to deliver a 7-4 victory for the Vikings. Van Groll is the first player in Lawrence history to hit two homers in one game. She finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs scored and six runs batted in. The six RBIs is the second-highest game total in school history, one short of the record set by Jenny Schmidt against Wisconsin Lutheran in 1990.