Former area athletes finding success in college athletics

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Former area athletes nding success in college athletics
By Nick Mo tt Mar 23, 2018
Former area athletes from Mid-Prairie, Highland, Iowa Mennonite and Lone Tree are nding
success in college sports as well.
As winter sports wind down and spring sports get moving, we caught up with former area
athletes still competing in their sports.
Amber Kral, Minnesota State
After a record-setting freshman year that included a NCAA Division II softball championship,
Amber Kral is continuing to shine for Minnesota State.
Kral is hitting .328 so far this season through 61 at bats including three home runs. Her 14 home
runs and 66 runs batted in were single-season records at Minnesota State.
Minnesota State is currently ranked 10th in Division II with a 16-3 record.
Calli Shaw, Northwestern College
Shaw, a former Iowa Mennonite prep, is a freshman at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
The team recently completed a 10-game stint in Tucson, Arizona.
Shaw said one big adjustment from high school to college sports is the time investment and
season changes, with the shift to spring softball.
Northwestern softball currently sits at 11-4 overall.
“It’s good, I actually really like it as a college and feel like I’ve found the balance I need to nd
between classes and sports,” Shaw said.
Courtnee Hahn, Coe College

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Hahn, who played two seasons at Indian Hills Community College after graduating from
Highland, is now playing her junior season at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.
Hahn has 11 starts and 15 appearances in the rst 16 games for the KoHawks and in 31 plate
appearances has a .258 batting average. Coe College is currently 8-8 and returns to Cedar Rapids
for a doubleheader against Cornell College on March 28.
Riley Schmider, Bethel College
Riley Schmieder, a junior at Bethel College, recently was named to both the College Sports
Information Directors of America Academic All-District team and an NAIA scholar-athlete.
To be considered a NAIA scholar-athlete, athletes have to be a junior and have at least a 3.5 GPA
on a 4.0 scale.
Schmieder shot 43 percent averaging 4.8 points per game. She started 13 of 30 games placed,
averaging 20.5 minutes per game.
Paige Doehrmann, Central College
Doehrmann, a sprinter at Central College and former Lone Tree athlete, recently nished fth as
part of a 4x400 meter relay team at the Iowa Conference Indoor Meet.
She was named an Iowa Conference indoor track performer of the week, the week of Dec. 10,
2017.
Doehrmann will compete at the Cornell Invitational in Mount Vernon, Iowa, on April 7.
Chase Rath, North Iowa Area
Community College
Rath, a freshman pitcher at North Iowa Area Community College, has seen three innings of action
in relief over three appearances so far this season.

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The former Highland athlete was a second All-State athlete during his senior season for the
Huskies.
Alex Rath, University of Iowa
Rath, in her sophomore season at the University of Iowa, has seen time as a runner for the
Hawkeyes. Rath has scored ve runs through six appearances so far this season and stolen a
base on her only attempt.
Braeden Nielsen, Mount Mercy
Nielsen, a freshman at Mount Mercy and former Mid-Prairie athlete, was expected to split time
between varsity and junior varsity for the baseball team.
The out elder said after a strong offseason he was working his way up the depth chart and
establishing himself as a potential pinch hitter.
Nielsen broke his arm two days before the season was set to begin and will be out for the
remainder of the season.
Chelsey Lampe, Mount Mercy
Lampe took a step up during the 2017-2018 basketball season for Mount Mercy, seeing seven
starts at 31 games played after no starts in her rst two years. The Highland graduate played
14.7 minutes per game and knocked down 35.5 percent of her shots to average 2.2 points per
game. She also grabbed 2.1 rebounds per game.
Mount Mercy ended their season with a 7-24 record.
Allyson Wertz, Mount Mercy
Wertz is a Mid-Prairie graduate now playing golf at Mount Mercy University. Wertz is sitting at a
83.6 stroke average through ve rounds this year, a four stroke improvement over her freshman
season.
Her 83.6 stroke average sits as the lowest among the team.
She recently nished 10th at the Bethany College Spring Classic to lead Mount Mercy.
Colin Sexton, Simpson

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Sexton, a former Highland prep, is currently in his senior season as a pitcher for Simpson
College.
He has ve appearances so far this year with nine strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. He sits
currently at a 2.08 ERA. Simpson is currently 1-10 overall. His closest area game will be April 17
at Cornell College at 4:30 p.m.