COLBY, Kan. – Wins in the final week of the regular season for the Garden City and Hutchinson Community College softball teams have led to the final Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Softball Player of the Week Awards being earned by Broncbuster Maysen Kurene-Iwikau and Blue Dragon Jessica Schmidt.    

Maysen Kurene-Iwikau – Garden City (KJCCC Division 1 Softball Player of the Week)
Kurene-Iwikau hit home runs in three of Garden City's four games last week, totaling 11 RBI across doubleheaders with Seward County and Barton to help the Broncbusters earn a pair of wins to close out the regular season. The sophomore shortstop opened the week with three home runs in an 18-4 rout of Seward County and hit a home run in both games of GCCC's final doubleheader of the regular season against Barton to finish the week with a .769 batting average. Six of Kurene-Iwikau's hits went for extra bases in addition to scoring eight runs.

Jessica Schmidt – Hutchinson (KJCCC Division 1 Softball Pitcher of the Week)
Hutchinson sophomore Jessica Schmidt was asked to go above and beyond last week for the 4-0 Blue Dragons. For the week, Schmidt was 2-0 with one save as the Blue Dragons clinched the KJCCC championship and reached the 40-win plateau. In game one on Wednesday at Pratt, Schmidt worked a career-long seven innings in relief as the Blue Dragons clinched a tie for the league title with a come-from-behind 8-6 win in 10 innings. Schmidt struck out a career-high 11 batters while allowing four hits and three runs. Against Cloud County, Schmidt extended her nation's lead in saves to eight with a 1 2-3 inning where she retired all five T-Bird batters she faced in a 5-3 win. In game two, Schmidt worked 3.2 innings of relief with eight strikeouts to earn her seventh win of the season. For the week, Schmidt tossed 12.1 innings and recorded 20 strikeouts.

Other Players Nominated:
Peyton McCormick - Barton
Brooklynn Ekker - Colby
Riley Moore – Dodge City
Natori Yates – Fort Hays Tech Northwest
Kaibryn Kruger - Hutchinson

Other Pitchers Nominated:
Charley Wheeler - Barton
Cheyenne Cramer - Colby
Karli George – Dodge City
Nadia Armstrong – Fort Hays Tech Northwest