CHARLOTTE, NC - After being named the final Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Softball Players of the Week in 2026, Garden City Community College’s Maysen Kurene-Iwikau and Hutchinson’s Jessica Schmidt have swept the NJCAA Division 1 Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week awards.    

Maysen Kurene-Iwikau – Garden City (NJCAA Division 1 Softball Player of the Week)
Kurene-Iwikau hit home runs in three of Garden City's four games last week, totaling 11 RBI across doubleheaders with Seward County and Barton to help the Broncbusters earn a pair of wins to close out the regular season. The sophomore shortstop opened the week with three home runs in an 18-4 rout of Seward County and hit a home run in both games of GCCC's final doubleheader of the regular season against Barton to finish the week with a .769 batting average. Six of Kurene-Iwikau's hits went for extra bases in addition to scoring eight runs.

Jessica Schmidt – Hutchinson (NJCAA Division 1 Softball Pitcher of the Week)
Hutchinson sophomore Jessica Schmidt was asked to go above and beyond last week for the 4-0 Blue Dragons. For the week, Schmidt was 2-0 with one save as the Blue Dragons clinched the KJCCC championship and reached the 40-win plateau. In game one on Wednesday at Pratt, Schmidt worked a career-long seven innings in relief as the Blue Dragons clinched a tie for the league title with a come-from-behind 8-6 win in 10 innings. Schmidt struck out a career-high 11 batters while allowing four hits and three runs. Against Cloud County, Schmidt extended her nation's lead in saves to eight with a 1 2-3 inning where she retired all five T-Bird batters she faced in a 5-3 win. In game two, Schmidt worked 3.2 innings of relief with eight strikeouts to earn her seventh win of the season. For the week, Schmidt tossed 12.1 innings and recorded 20 strikeouts.