Wheaton athletics fields three CCIW athletes

By Stasia Lyon, Staff Writer

The CCIW Player of the Week is an award given to an outstanding athlete in the conference for different sports. Wheaton senior Chris Szymczak was named CCIW swimmer of the week this past Tuesday and is the first swimmer on the Wheaton Men’s Swim team to receive the award this season.

Szymczak has swum for the Thunder all four years that he’s attended Wheaton. He was granted this award after his excellent performance in the UChicago swimming and diving meet this past weekend. Szymczak dropped three seconds off his personal record on his 200-yard individual medley, a race that includes breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and backstroke in one event.

Additionally, Szymczak set a personal best in his 200- yard backstroke race, clocking in a t1:54.51. He now holds conference leading times in 100-yard freestyle, 200 back and 200 individual medley. The Wheaton Swim team hosts the Wheaton Invitational Meet this weekend starting at 9:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 30–Dec. 1.

Wheaton senior Devin Kyler also received the CCIW Player of the Week for the Wheaton Women’s Basketball team after they won the Beth Baker Classic tournament this past weekend.

This was her first time receiving the award. Kyler contributed three-pointers, blocked shots, assists and steals, playing all aspects of the game as Wheaton took on Macalester on Friday, Nov. 16. According to the Wheaton Athletics page, she averaged 16.5 points and seven rebounds a game in the tournament and was a key player in both games to result in their 2-0 record for the weekend. The Thunder won both games, handily beating Hanover 81-72 and Macalester 76-62. Kyler has been a great asset to the Wheaton Thunder throughout her collegeiate basketball career. The Thunder travel this weekend to faceoff against North Park University at 5p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1.

A member of the Wheaton Men’s Basketball team was also awarded CCIW Player of the Week after his performance during Wheaton College’s Lee Pfund Classic tournament in Wheaton this past weekend.

Aston Francis received this award for the eighth time as well as receiving the MVP award at the end of the tournament. Francis performed outstandingly in the championship game on Nov. 17 against UW-Oshkosh where he put up 45 points, tying his previous career best. The night before, Francis had put 26 points on the board for the Thunder, averaging 35.5 points a game over the weekend. As a senior, Francis has scored 1,479 points for the Thunder so far in his collegiate career and will undoubtedly continue to help Wheaton have many more wins this season. The Thunder travel to North Park University this weekend to face-off against the Vikings at7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1.