REGION COLLEGIANS: Wallace grad Branden Dawson tabbed as Big Ten Freshman of the Week

He did it on behalf of Michigan State, but Branden Dawson did not give a spartan performance.

The Lew Wallace grad and Times All-Area selection from 2010-11 had plenty to show Minnesota in a recent conference game. The 6-foot-6 guard scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting to help Michigan State defeat the Golden Gophers and, in the process, earned his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.

Along with his points, Dawson supplied the Spartans with four rebounds and four blocks.

St. Xavier University guard Brad Karp (Valparaiso) was chosen as the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Division I Player of the Week for the third time this season after averaging 27.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two games for the Cougars.

Karp shot 64 percent from the field (21-of-33) over that span and sank 6-of-9 3-pointers. His three consecutive 3s keyed a late second-half run that enabled SXU to beat Olivet Nazarene 90-87 in overtime.

Karp leads the CCAC in scoring (23.2 ppg) and is third in per-game rebounding (8.2).

Track & field

Freshman Griffin Nykaza (Beecher) was part of Illinois State's distance medley relay team that placed eighth in the Indiana Relays. The Redbirds' quartet clocked out in 10 minutes, 26.95 seconds.

Sophomore Shane Kenney (Chesterton) took fourth for St. Xavier University in the 800 run at Illinois Wesleyan's Titan Open. Kenney completed his race in 1:59.11 while giving the Cougars their second-best finish in any event at the meet.

Illiana Christian products Marcus Devers and Jon DeYoung were among the Trinity Christian College athletes to register National Christian College Athletic Association national-qualifying times in the Trolls' season-opening meet at Indiana Wesleyan.

Devers, a freshman, wound up fifth in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 2 1/2 inches, while sophomore DeYoung achieved his qualifying mark in the shot put with a throw of 40-6 ¾. Another former Viking, Thomas Venhuizen, eclipsed Trinity's previous standard in the 600 with his first-place time of 1:25.37.

Michigan sophomore Erick Gavin (Marian Catholic) currently ranks 10th among Big Ten sprinters in the 60 dash with a best time 8.06. He is just .03 seconds behind teammate Herman Washington, who has recorded the conference's third-fastest performance to date in the event.

Freshman Rylee Sullivan (Lake Central) comprised one-fourth of IPFW's 1,600 relay unit that established a school record with its 4:10.91 clocking at the Mastodons' own quadrangular, which included Valparaiso, Oakland and Detroit in the field. Sullivan and her relay teammates placed third in their race.

Swimming

Freshman Ben Keller (Valparaiso) helped Calvin College score a 140-77 win against Albion by being a member of the Knights' victorious 800-yard freestyle relay quartet, which finished in 7:36.10. Keller also provided points with two other top-five finishes as he placed third in the 100 free (51.96) and fifth in the 50 free (23.26).

The Times welcomes information about local athletes for inclusion in Region Collegians. Email Ken Karrson at kenneth.karrson@nwi.com or fax to (219) 933-3249. Karrson can be reached at (219) 933-3232.