ST. PAUL, Minn. --- First-year Track & Field distance runner Jeremiah VanAcker won his first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Player of the Week award on Monday after a stellar opening meet on Saturday. In the first meet of his collegiate career, VanAcker won both of the races in which he competed. He started the meet by winning the mile in 4 minutes and 36 seconds and followed up with another victory in the 3,000-meter race. The East Bethel native won the 3,000 in 9:33, setting the institutional Crown record in the process. 

VanAcker's award is the second UMAC Athlete of the Week for Men's Track & Field in school history, following Robert Watson's win early last season. This season, the Storm Track & Field program has had a UMAC honoree in both meets, with Anna Brueckner winning the UMAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week after last week's competition. All these accolades have happened under the tutelage of Head Coach Bill Braunger, who has built the program from the ground up in his tenure. 

The Storm next compete with a Women's Meet on Saturday, February 20. The men compete the following Saturday before both go into their conference meet.