Tim Rairdon, a senior from St. Charles, Illinois (St. Charles East High School), and Jordan Ball, a freshman from Cuba, Illinois (Cuba High School), were named the Knox College Prairie Fire co-Performers of the Week on Monday, May 12. Rairdon set two school records and won an individual championship at the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships while Ball helped lead the Prairie Fire baseball team to a conference championship.

Rairdon won the 800-meter run at the conference meet in a time of 1:54.45 on Saturday, May 10, to break the previous school record of 1:58.10 set by Brian Campbell on May 8, 1993. The day before, Rairdon set a Knox school record in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:57.85, good for second place in the conference. His time shattered the previous school record time of 4:02.20 set by Brian Campbell on May 20, 1994.

The Knox senior also anchored the Prairie Fire men's 4x400-meter relay team, which took seventh in the conference, with a time of 3:32.74.

Rairdon's times in both the 800-meter run and the 1500-meter run were each less than two seconds off the NCAA National provisional qualifying times.

The Knox outdoor track and field team will compete at the Last Chance Twilight Qualifier in Rock Island, Illinois, on Friday, May 16.

Ball appeared in three of the five Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament games on Friday and Saturday, May 9-10. He allowed only one earned run over 13.2 innings as Knox won the conference title for the first time since 1993. With the conference crown, the Prairie Fire receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships.

The freshman right-hander was dominant all week. He worked 4.1 innings in relief in a 6-3 loss to Ripon in the tournament's opening game on Friday. He gave up four hits and one earned run while striking out one.

Saturday morning, Ball started and threw 6.1 innings, giving up four hits and an unearned run while striking out one in a 6-2 win over St. Norbert. Ball clinched the conference title for Knox by earning the save in the tournament's final game against Ripon on Saturday. He worked the final three innings and did not allow a hit while striking out three in a 5-4 Knox win.

After losing the first game of the tournament, Knox won four straight games, including three in a row on Saturday, to win the program's first conference baseball title since 1993. Knox will now play the University of St. Thomas in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, May 14, in NCAA Division III Championship Oshkosh Regional action.