Iowa City High girls track runner Nina Peterson and Iowa City Liberty boys tennis player Noah Gilbert were voted by readers as the Press-Citizen’s Athletes of the Week for May 12-18.

Peterson won girls Athlete of the Week with 42% of the vote.

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Peterson earned a trip to the Iowa high school state track and field meet after she placed third in the 3000 meters at the 4A state qualifying meet on May 15. The senior Little Hawk clocked in a time of 10:39.14.

Gilbert clinched boys Athlete of the Week with 42% of the vote.

Gilbert collected a singles victory for the Liberty boys tennis team during a 5-1 substate win in 2A over Cedar Falls on May 17. Gilbert won the first set, 6-4, before he dropped the second set, 4-6. He clinched the final set, 1-0 (10-7).

The Press-Citizen reached out to Iowa City Liberty boys tennis for a photo of Noah Gilbert but did not receive one by production deadline.

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Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Nina Peterson, Noah Gilbert are Press-Citizen’s Athletes of the Week

DAVIS, Calif. –   Called to action, senior Dani Barrett and junior Maya Shinnick will represent the Aggies on the track at the 2025 NCAA West First Round, starting next Wednesday, May 28th.
 
Barrett repeats her qualification from the 2024 season in the 10,000-meter run, seeded at 14th in the west. She was one of twelve 10k runners in the west to move onto the NCAA Championship last year and looks to find her way to Eugene once more. She earned her qualifying run at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, where she clocked her first place-winning and self-record breaking time of 33:07.17.
 
Shinnick earns her first NCAA qualification of her career, coming into the event at 35th with her time of 53.31 in the 400-meter dash. She ran her NCAA-worthy time at the Sac State Hornet Invite with her first place performance that also put her second overall in the Aggie records.
 

Photos courtesy Kate Woolson/Cincinnati Reds

From the sun-soaked shores of Long Beach to the banks of the Ohio River, Millikan High alum Spencer Steer is living his dream on the baseball diamond.

In the midst of his fourth big league season with the Cincinnati Reds, Steer has come a long way from the early days at Los Altos Little League. Now looking to continue a promising young career and continue his hometown’s rich history within Major League Baseball.

Steer, 27, broke into the majors during a whirlwind 2022 season, which he began in Double-A. Thanks to a solid start to the season, he earned a promotion to Triple-A in May, followed by his selection to the MLB All-Star Futures Game, where he represented the Minnesota Twins organization.

That became a special homecoming for Steer, as the game was played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, allowing a number of family members, teammates, and coaches to come see him on the big stage.

“That was awesome,” Steer recalled. “A lot of people were at that game, and I think it was a lot of people’s first time seeing me play since high school … So yeah, a pretty incredible experience overall.”

After showcasing his skills against the other top minor league prospects in baseball, Steer was then traded by the Twins–the organization that drafted him out of Oregon in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft–over to Cincinnati in early August. Less than a month later, Steer was headed to the Queen City to make his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies.

Steer said those two months “turned his world upside down,” but he sure landed among the stars for his big league debut. In his four plate appearances that day, Steer drew a pair of walks, doubled, and hit his first MLB home run. As if that wasn’t enough, he also ended the Reds’ walk-off victory by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

“I don’t remember too much from that day, just because of how quick it went by,” Steer admitted. “I heard a lot of, ‘Soak it in, enjoy it. You only get one debut.’ And I tried my best to do that. But at the same time, your whole life’s kind of leading up to this moment. It feels a lot bigger than you think it would, honestly. I just remember being crazy nervous leading up to the game, but once it started, a kind of calmness came over me. It’s still baseball, it’s still the same game. And then having my family here, getting to share that with them, that was really special.”

Since that storybook debut, Steer has carved out an important role with the Reds, playing in at least 156 games in both of his first full seasons in 2023 and 2024. He’s also played six different positions around the diamond, showcasing valuable versatility to help out the ballclub in a number of different ways.

Steer’s 2025 campaign got off to a tough start after he was shut down early in Spring Training due to shoulder discomfort. He was able to work his way back in time for an Opening Day start, but was limited to DH duties for the first three weeks of the season and didn’t put up his usual numbers at the plate.

“I just didn’t really feel like a complete baseball player,” admitted Steer of his time serving as a DH only. “I think I add value by being that guy in the lineup who can kind of plug in and play different positions. It was kind of just a weird thing for me. I’ve never just DH’d before, so I think I struggled with that piece of it.”

He also didn’t get the normal buildup to the season that ballplayers are accustomed to, meaning he was trying to find his timing against live big league pitching, instead of during Spring Training. After having time to adjust at the plate, Steer has found a better rhythm offensively, hitting .264 in his last 29 games with an active 10-game hitting streak as of May 22.

“Every Spring Training I just try to get the game to slow down,” Steer explained. “Because when you get those first at-bats, 90 looks like 100 and 95 looks like it’s unhittable, just because your eyes aren’t adjusted to the speed of the game and seeing spin and all that stuff. So that was a challenge. I’m not going to use that as an excuse for poor performance, but it’s definitely real.”

Now that he’s back playing the field, Steer has added immediate value at first base for the Reds. In his first 243.2 innings at that spot, he’s been credited with 5 defensive runs saved, which ranks second-best among all MLB first basemen.

As Steer navigates the ups and downs of his professional career, he’s never lost touch with his roots. He said he misses the beach, as well as the comfort that comes from being close to friends and family in Long Beach. But Steer said he’s kept in touch with his high school coaches over the years, and still goes back to Millikan during the offseason to hit in the cages.

Now in his fourth MLB season, he’s already reached heights that the vast majority of ballplayers never attain. He’s gotten to play in all 30 big league stadiums, collecting countless memories along the way.

But nine years out of high school, he still remembers those cold nights at Blair Field, and the battles against Lakewood, Wilson, and the rest of the Moore League. Those games still hold a special place in his heart, even as he creates new memories in the big leagues.

“It’s pretty cool that in high school you’re able to play at a field like that,,” Steer said. “Those night games at Blair felt like the biggest games of our lives at that point. I think it’s awesome that you get that opportunity in high school, because some of my favorite memories of baseball are on that field.”

Steer and the Reds will make a couple of West Coast trips later in the 2025 season, including a visit to Anaheim from Aug. 18-20, then to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers from Aug. 25-27.

GENEVA, Ohio – Dickinson senior women’s track and field athlete Annie Leder earned Second Team All-American honors on Thursday evening by claiming 16th in the long jump during the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the action got underway at the SPIRE Institute.

Leder began the event with an opening jump of 5.48m, but then posted her best of the day with her second leap of 5.57m to claim her 16th-place finish. The winner of the event was Emma Seipel of Loras College who dropped in at 6.15m on her first attempt.

Thursday ended the competition for Leder, but did not close out the time in Ohio for the Red and White as junior Trevor Richwine will give it a go in the 800m prelims on Friday before hopefully earning a spot in Saturday’s final.

EASTON, Pa. – Jeff “CJ” Werneke, who has spent the last three years at Binghamton University as associate head coach, has been named the next head coach of the Lafayette volleyball program. 

Werneke joins the Leopards following his three seasons with the Bearcats where he was part of a historic run. The Bearcats improved from 7-17 in 2021 to 17-7 in 2022. Binghamton went on to capture its first-ever America East regular season conference championship. The Bearcats notched 51 wins since his arrival (averaging 17 per season) and their 22-8 conference record was the best among its America East opposition in that timeframe.

At Binghamton, he helped mentor the program’s first-ever three-time AVCA All-American, first three-time America East player of the year and a conference-high 12 All-America East selections. At the end of the 2022 season, the America East recognized Binghamton with its coaching staff of the year award.

“We’re really excited for the next chapter in Lafayette volleyball,” said Lafayette Director of Athletics Sherryta Freeman. “CJ emerged from a deep applicant pool and brings a wealth of experience from his time as a head coach at Fairfield and Rutgers and more recently as an assistant at Binghamton where he was integral in helping turn around that program.”

“First and foremost, I would like to thank Director of Athletics Sherryta Freeman and Senior Assoc. A.D. Mike Chamberlain, as well as the rest of the search committee for this opportunity. I am extremely excited and grateful to be named the new heach coach of Lafayette Volleyball,” Werneke said. “I look forward to getting to know and to building lasting relationships with our current student-athletes while taking the next steps in building a successful program that will represent all that Lafayette embodies.”

Before his successes with the Bearcats, Werneke made a stop at Columbia in 2021-22 as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator. He was instrumental in developing the team’s blocking and defensive systems, responsible for scouting, international outreach and tactical game plans in addition to his day-to-day tasks.

“His energy and passion for volleyball, particularly his impactful role in building strong program’s across multiple institutions, stood out in our search,” said Chamberlain, who led the search committee. “We are confident that his leadership and commitment to developing our student-athletes will elevate our program and inspire excellence both on and off the court.”

Werneke’s longest stint and most recent as a head coach came at the Big 10’s Rutgers in  2008-19. After a 2-22 start in the 2008 season, Werneke improved to double-digit wins in 2009, 2010 and 2011 before an 18-12 campaign in 2012. The 2019 season marked the Scarlet Knights’ first Big 10 wins (Northwestern and Iowa) since joining the conference in 2014. The institution’s RPI also jumped 85 spots in 2019 and Rutgers earned the AVCA Academic Award in nine of his 11 seasons in New Brunswick.

Before his decade-long tenure at Rutgers, Werneke spent six years (2002-08) as head coach at Fairfield, where he reached the 100-win plateau for his career in 2007. He led the Stags to four consecutive MAAC regular-season titles and in the 2006 and 2007 seasons he was named the MAAC Coach of the Year. The 2007 season was his best in Connecticut, as Fairfield finished 21-13 overall and 17-1 in MAAC play.

Werneke was an assistant coach at Rutgers from 1999-2002, prior to accepting the head coaching role at Fairfield. One of his main responsibilities over that time was to handle all aspects of recruiting, as well as game day and travel operations. Across those three years, Rutgers accumulated a 55-27 record.

A native of Dayton, Ohio, Werneke graduated from Samford University in 1996 with a bachelor of arts degree in Social Science. He also had assistant coaching stops at his alma mater, along with East Tennessee State and the University of Montevallo.

He currently resides in Washington, N.J. with his wife, Jennifer, daughters, Rylie and Parker, and son, Noah.

 

To keep up with the Lafayette volleyball team, follow its social media pages.

X/@LafColVBall | Instagram/@lafayette_vb | Facebook/GoLeopards