If individual accolades are a harbinger of things to come, Prairie Fire athletics teams are certainly on the cusp of brighter days ahead.

Seven teams competed this fall, and those squads combined to amass 17 weekly Performer of the Week awards from the Midwest Conference and the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (men’s golf). That total matches the most for the Prairie Fire athletics programs—over an entire year (17 in 2003-04).

And it wasn’t just one team piling up those honors. Men’s soccer, which advanced to the Midwest Conference Tournament as the third-seeded team, led the way with five. But football, men’s golf, and men’s cross country each had three as well. Women’s soccer added a pair, and volleyball also contributed one to that total.

From first years to fifth years, the honors went to players from every class. Rookies? We’ve got rookies for you—men’s golfers Thomas Lyaudet and Diego Carrillo, as well as women’s soccer goalkeeper Darby Wallig, plus return man Jayvon Bolds and place kicker Fernando Torres from football.

How about the veterans that mentor the younger players? There’s men’s soccer fifthyear goalkeeper Nico Lantzendorffer (three times!), volleyball senior Caroline Wolters, women’s soccer senior Aleene Ramirez, and football senior Isaac Mora.

Lantzendorffer wasn’t the only repeat honoree, however. Junior Lance Miller of the men’s cross country team not only took home the award three times, he also broke the program’s 8K record this fall by nearly 30 seconds while finishing second at the conference meet, the best finish by a Prairie Fire runner at the event since Roscoe Pullen won the race—in 1932.

Lantzendorffer’s teammate, sophomore Kestervens Dera, missed part of the season with an injury before returning with a vengeance. Twice he recorded hat tricks down the stretch (to have the award bestowed upon him in consecutive weeks), while leading the team to a 4-0-2 record in the final six games, securing that conference tournament berth.

And let’s not forget junior golfer Gabriel Miller, who became the first Prairie Fire golfer to receive the honor in nearly three years, inspiring the two first-years listed above.

The winter season has barely begun, yet the men’s and women’s basketball teams have already secured three more weekly awards to boost the total to the growing school record, which as of December 3, sits at 20. Kudos to fifth-year Sarina Dacio and sophomore Bria Medina of the women’s team, as well as the newest member of the 1,000-point club, senior Sean Gallery of the men’s squad.

At this point, everyone is simply wondering, “Who’s next?”