MONROE, La. – Coming through with big performances for their respective programs, Isaiah Newsome from football earned Warhawk Male of the Week, and Medy Blankvoort from tennis was named Warhawk Female of the Week.
Newsome recorded a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown with 6:09 to play in the first quarter to give ULM a 7-0 lead. Later in the game, Newsome returned an interception for 75 yards to put the Warhawks in front, 14-0, with 11:07 remaining in the third quarter.
He is the second Warhawk to ever tally two interceptions for touchdowns (two; Karlton Washington; Northwestern State; Sept. 25, 1999). He is also just the second Sun Belt player to accomplish the feat (two; Tony Lukins, New Mexico State; at Tulsa; Oct. 6, 2001).
The Petal, Miss., native set a new SBC record in interception return yards (146) and interception return average (73.0). Newsome broke the records held by Middle Tennessee's Darin Davis who had 101 interception return yards and 50.5 yard average vs. Florida Atlantic on Nov. 27, 2010.
Newsome also finished the game at Texas State with four solo tackles, including one tackle for loss.
In tennis, Blankvoort captured her first singles title of the fall by defeating Kaylene Chadwell of Chattanooga in straight sets (6-3, 7-5) in the Flight 2 final at last weekend's Georgia State Southern Shootout.
The senior, a native of Huizen, Netherlands, has a 5-3 record to date in singles action this fall and is also half of one of the top doubles tandems in the Sun Belt alongside Justyna Krol. In addition to Blankvoort's singles title, the Warhawk duo brought home the consolation championship in the Flight 2 doubles bracket after downing Emory's Madison Gordon and Brenna Kelly in a hotly-contested 8-7 (7-2) match.
Blankvoort also represented ULM at the Riviera/ITA All-American Doubles Championships two weeks ago, a prestigious annual event that was hosted in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Although she and Krol fell in their opener, they were the lone Sun Belt team in the prequalifying draw and were one of just two teams from the state of Louisiana, the other being Klara Vyskocilova and Ipek Birol of Tulane.
Warhawk of the Week Archive
Sept. 3: Male: Hillary Kirwa (Cross Country); Female: Pauline Muiruri (Cross Country)
Sept. 10: Male: Cortney Davis (Football); Female: Jenna Pillon (Soccer)
Sept. 17: Male: Kolton Browning (Football); Female: Hadley Swartz (Volleyball)
Sept. 24: Male: Justin Manton (Football); Female: Mariah Mitchell (Soccer)
Oct. 1: Male: Charlie MacNeal (Golf); Female: Alison Knowles (Golf)
Oct. 8: Male: Dusan Makevic (Cross Country); Female: Sophie Rufyikiri (Tennis)
Oct: 15: Male: Isaiah Newsome (Football); Female: Medy Blankvoort (Tennis)
