Iowa City Today

University of Iowa student-athletes Dionne van Aalsum and Kaden Wetjen have been named September’s Student-Athletes of the Month, according to an announcement from the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Van Aalsum, a junior field hockey player from Castricum, Netherlands, scored 13 goals and recorded two assists during September. She currently leads the nation with 16 goals and averages two goals per game. During her team’s undefeated month, she contributed three game-winning goals. Van Aalsum achieved a .333 shooting percentage and a .667 shots-on-goal percentage. She also converted two out of three penalty stroke attempts in September.

Wetjen, a senior football player from Williamsburg, Iowa, was recognized twice as the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week during September. He leads his team with 536 all-purpose yards through five games and ranks first nationally in combined kick return yardage (465), first in punt return average (31.5), and second in kick return average (35.5).

In Iowa’s win over UMass, Wetjen set career highs with 216 return yards (182 punt and 34 kickoff) and 236 all-purpose yards, scoring two touchdowns. His 182 punt return yards are the fourth-most in a single game in Big Ten history. Wetjen’s 95-yard punt return touchdown against UMass tied both a Big Ten and Iowa record for length and marked the longest punt return ever at Kinnick Stadium. Additionally, he scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 20-yard reverse play against UMass. This achievement makes him what is believed to be the first player in Iowa history to score via rushing, receiving, punt return, and kickoff return.

In another game against Rutgers, Wetjen totaled a game-best 183 all-purpose yards and matched an Iowa record by returning a kickoff for a touchdown over 100 yards on the opening play. This was only the sixth time such a feat has occurred in school history and marks Wetjen's second career kickoff return touchdown. He is also only the second Hawkeye to ever return an opening kickoff for a touchdown—the previous being C.J. Jones during the 2003 Orange Bowl.

"Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced on Thursday that Dionne van Aalsum (field hockey) and Kaden Wetjen (football) were named September’s Student-Athletes of the Month."