ALL-BIG EAST CONFERENCE

AMBRYN DIENER (11) makes all-Big East first team this year. – Photo by Jenni Pickel

Lutheran/Christian’s soccer team not only won its most games in at least 12 years, the Crusaders also won their second regional championship ever.

No wonder the 13-8 co-op squad had four girls on the all-Big East Conference team.

“It was a very exciting season,” Ambryn Diener said. “Our team grew so much and it was just amazing to see the progress that we made on the field and off the field in our relationships as well.

Diener, a senior, made the first team.

The Concordia-Ann Arbor recruit ranked second on her squad with five assists to go with six goals.

Lutheran/Christian coach Katie Veldkamp credits Diener for her great leadership and how her positivity helped her teammates.

“She played center-mid and stopper, and in both those positions she was really good at positioning herself to win the ball,” Veldkamp said. “She made really smart choices with the ball, worked hard to win the ball and made good plays. She also took almost all of our corner kicks and created a lot of good scoring opportunities. She takes penalty kicks because she is very precise and has a great shot.”

Sophomore Maria Zylstra earned a spot on the second team for the second consecutive time after leading the Crusaders with 26 goals and seven assists.

“She has incredible foot skills and has a good drive to get to the goal,” Veldkamp said. “She is really good at dribbling past players. She creates just enough space to shoot, she’s really accurate and gets good shots on goal.”

The two who received honorable mention are sophomore Taylor Batt and freshman Alexis Beger. Batt’s 14 goals were second on the team and Beger had six as well.

BASEBALL

Lutheran and Kohler/Christian each had two players made all-Big East.

The Crusaders featured second-teamer Mason Senkbeil, a junior infielder who led the Crusaders in batting (.383), runs (12) and hits (18).

Teammate David Vanic, a sophomore outfielder, earned honorable mention by ranking second in batting (.298), runs (11) and hits (14).

The Blue Bombers were led by freshman third baseman Eric Zimmerman, who made the second team.

Freshman pitcher Landon Hock made honorable mention.

SOFTBALL

Lutheran sophomore infielder Kara Thimmig, who had a team-high 11 runs and 11 hits, landed on the second team. She got honorable mention as a freshman.

Senior pitcher Kamrynn Wiltzius earned honorable mention for the second year in a row by striking out 50 batters in 71 innings.