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NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan senior outfielder Mary Rankin has been named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Softball "Player of the Week" on Tuesday, April 12.
 
Rankin (Emden, Illinois, Hartsburg-Emden HS) batted .647 (11-for-17) with five runs, four doubles, eight RBI and a .882 slugging percentage for the 5-1 Titans last week. She finished a combined 5-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, two doubles and three walks in a double-header sweep of Monmouth (Ill.) on April 5 and was 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBI and two doubles in a 7-4 win over Augustana in game two of a doubleheader on April 6. Rankin was 3-for-3 with two RBI in a 2-1 victory against Wisconsin-Eau Claire on April 8.

A business major at Illinois Wesleyan, Mary is the daughter of Gary and Cherie Rankin. A second team all-CCIW softball selection in 2015, Rankin was also a second team all-conference volleyball player and was chosen as the CCIW "Defensive Player of the Week" for volleyball on Nov. 2, 2015.
 
Wheaton senior Katie Thornton was named the CCIW "Pitcher of the Week" on Tuesday. She was 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched for the Thunder last week. She was the winning pitcher in all three of Wheaton's victories. Thornton pitched all nine innings in Wheaton's 7-2 extra-innings win at Elmhurst on Monday as she struck out seven batters and allowed no earned runs. She led the Thunder to an 8-0 victory against North Park on April 5 as she allowed just two hits and no runs with two strikeouts. Thornton picked up the win in game two against the Vikings as she pitched 2.1 innings of relief and gave up one earned run and had two strikeouts in the 23-9 win.
 
2016 CCIW Softball Players of the Week
Hitter
Rankin – Illinois Wesleyan (4/12/16)
Christina Sandstedt – Wheaton (4/5/16)
Brianna Thompson – Elmhurst (3/29/16)
Darian Pelsor – Carthage (3/22/16)
Danielle Smith – Illinois Wesleyan (3/15/16)
Alyssa Voegele – Millikin (3/8/16)
Pitcher
Katie Thornton – Wheaton (4/12/16)
Mackenzie Marquis – Illinois Wesleyan (4/5/16)
Stefanie Sanidas – Elmhurst (3/29/16)
Katie Herron – Carthage (3/22/16)
Katie Thornton – Wheaton (3/15/16)
Cathy Lebryk – Millikin (3/8/16)
 
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2014-15 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,500 academic all-conference recipients, 19 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 46 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 102 all-Americans.