ST. PETER, Minn. – Freshman swimmer Tanner Sonnek (Mankato, Minn.) and senior hockey player Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Stillwater, Minn.) have been selected as the Gustavus Adolphus College November Male and Female Student-Athletes-of-the-Month presented by Thrivent Financial and voted on by the Gustavus Sports Information Department.
Tanner Sonnek
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Hometown: Mankato, Minn.
High School: Mankato West
Major: Undeclared
Parents: Troy and Julie Sonnek
In the first meet of his collegiate career, Sonnek swam one of the fastest breaststrokes in program history. In the dual meet against UW-Stevens Points on Nov. 7, Sonnek took first place in both the 200 breaststroke at 2:09.7 and 100 breaststroke at 1:00.26, tallying 18 points in just two events. The Mankato West product also took sixth in the 100 butterfly at 55.93 and was a member of the third place 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:32.1. In another dual against St. Olaf the following week, Sonnek was part of the fourth place 200-yard medley relay at 1:43.46. Sonnek also took third in the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.32 and first in the 200 breaststroke at 2:10.12. In his final event of the day, the 200 IM, Sonnek placed second at 2:03.94. To finish the month off, Sonnek competed in the Gustie Sprint Invite and Grace Goblirsch Invitational on Nov. 20 and 21 at Vic Gustafson Pool and continued to impress. Sonnek helped the Gusties to their second place finish at the Goblirsch Invite with a big individual victory in the 100-yard breaststroke. He finished the race with a season-best 59.70 to earn the win, and he also helped the 200-yard medley relay team finish second with a time of 1:39.88. Sonnek also was fifth in the 100-fly and the 200-free relay, and seventh in the 100-free. At the Sprint Invite, he helped the 200-breast relay team finish second with a time of 1:52.52, and he helped the 400-yard medley relay team also finish second with a time of 3:46.36. For his exceptional performances that week, Sonnek was named MIAC Swimming and Diving Athlete-of-the-Week. This season, Sonnek has the MIAC’s top time in the 200-breast, and the third-best in the 100-breast.
Allison Eder-Zdechlik
Women’s Hockey
Hometown: Stillwater, Minn.
High School: Stillwater
Major: Psychological Science
Parents: Bob and Jody Eder-Zdechlik
Eder-Zdechlik has been a major driving force for the Gustie offense throughout the first month of play as she leads the team with nine goals in eight games. The senior forward has scored a goal in six of eight games so far, including two multiple-goal games and her first career hat trick. Her hat trick came in a 4-1 win over Augsburg on Nov. 21 at Don Roberts Ice Rink – two of the goals were short-handed and unassisted. After the two-game series against the Auggies where Eder-Zdechlik scored four goals, she was one of six NCAA Division III players from around the nation to be named to the D3hockey.com Women’s National First Team of the Week. The following weekend the Gusties traveled to Middlebury, Vt. to compete in the Panther/Cardinal Classic at Middlebury College. Gustavus faced the top two ranked teams in the country, losing 2-1 to No. 2 Elmira and then falling 5-3 to No. 1 Plattsburg State. Although the Gusties came out with a pair of losses, they were highly competitive and Eder-Zdechlik continued her scoring streak with a goal in each game. For her performance, Eder-Zdechlik was named MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete of the Week. She is currently on a five-game goal-scoring spree and has recorded at least one point in seven straight games. This season, Eder-Zdechlik leads the MIAC in points (11) and goals (9) and has a plus-five rating with one hat trick and one game-winner.