CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Three Luther athletes were named American Rivers Conference Performers of the Week in their respective sports including Owen Ford of men's track and field, Joao Benvenutti of men's tennis and Ren Talerico of women's swimming and diving.
 
Ford was also named the male athlete of the week. He helped the Norse win the Luther Invitational out of six teams with 170 points. In the 300-meter dash, he set a new school record with a time of 36.40 finishing second. His time broke the record set by Mike Naslund in 1992 (36.53). Ford also won the high jump with a mark of 1.98m winning the title. He was also on the 4x400 relay team that finished second at 3:30.79.
 
Benvenutti finished 5-1 overall in the three-match weekend for Luther in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was 2-1 at no. 1 singles and 3-0 in no. 1 doubles. Against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater he defeated the no. 26 singles player in division III Theo Billson (1-6, 6-2, 10-6) in a third set tiebreaker. His only loss in singles was to Grinnell. The Norse lost to UW-Whitewater 4-3 but came back on Saturday wins over Grinnell College 4-3 and Wheaton College 7-0.
 
Talerico and the swimming and diving team defeated Loras 179-40 in a dual on Saturday, Feb. 7. She won all three events she competed in including the 200 medley relay (1:54.76), 200 IM (2:18.53), and the 200 freestyle relay (1:46.20).