March 10, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University has announced its Hilton Garden Inn Athlete of the Week recipients for the week of March 3-9. The women's winner is lacrosse's Courtney Koester (Richmond, Ind./Richmond), while the men's recipient is Jason Erwinski (Tinley Park, Ill./Mt. Carmel) of the wrestling team.
Koester, a junior, had a monster game Saturday, helping lead the Wildcats to a come-from-behind, 13-9 victory at Ohio University in its American Lacrosse Conference opener. Koester scored a career-high four goals, including two during a 5-0 NU run that snapped a 7-7 tie and sent the 'Cats on to victory. She also had an assist in the game, as well as three draw controls.
Koester also scored a goal and had six draw controls in Wednesday's 17-4 win over Sacred Heart at Lakeside Field, and added two more goals, an assist and five draw controls in a 10-4 win at Duquesne.
Erwinski placed seventh last weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Madison, Wis. More importantly, the senior ensured himself a spot in the 2003 NCAA Championships with his 9-4 win against Iowa's Matt Anderson.
Erwinski tallied a takedown with 10 seconds to go in the first for an early 2-0 lead. Heading into the third up one, Erwinski recorded two more takedowns and earned the riding time point to secure the win.
He improved to 21-13 on the season, and earned his first berth in the NCAAs. Erwinski will represent NU at the championships March 20-22 in Kansas City, Mo.