Mike Carroll To Be Inducted Into Edina High School Athletic Hall Of Fame Posted on September 19th, 2012 by Ethan Armstrong

Mike Carroll enters his 14th year behind the bench of the Golden Gustie women's hockey team. Photo courtesy of Sport PiX.

St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus Head Baseball and Women’s Hockey Coach Mike Carroll is one of seven inductees whom will enter the Edina High School Athletic Hall of Fame later this week.  Carroll, a 1975 graduate of Edina-East High School, will be inducted at ceremony held Thursday, Sept. 20 at the Edina Country Club.

“It’s a tremendous honor to inducted in the Edina Athletic Hall of Fame,” said Mike Carroll.  “The athletic family that I grew up in combined with Edina’s rich athletic history is really what I owe this honor.”

Considered one of the all-time great athletes to come out of Edina-East High School, Carroll lettered in soccer, hockey, and baseball during his high school career.  Mike was a goalkeeper on the soccer team, a forward on the hockey team, and a first baseman on the baseball team.  He hit .378 and earned All-Lake Conference honors his senior season.  Carroll also played a key role on the Edina-East hockey team’s run to a state championship in 1974.  The Hornets defeated Bemidji 6-0 in the state championship to finish the year with an unblemished record of 24-0-0.

Mike Carroll was a first baseman for the Hornets in the mid-1970s.

Although Carroll admits to being a late-bloomer, the competition he faced at Edina set the tone for what would be a stellar tenure at the collegiate level.  “You couldn’t ask for a better time to grow up in Edina.  From a sports standpoint, the competition level was unmatched.  That was my driving force and it prepared me for my athletic career down the line,” commented Carroll.

After graduating from Edina-East in 1975, Carroll insisted on playing two sports in college.  He attended Mankato State University, where he competed in both hockey and baseball.  To date, Mike still holds single-season school records in at-bats (209, 1980), triples (6, 1980), putouts (400, 1980), fielding percentage (1.000, 1979).  Carroll was drafted in 1980 by the Montreal Expos organization, for which he played two years in the minor leagues.

With a degree in municipal recreation from Mankato State, Carroll pursued a career in coaching hockey.  He enjoyed coaching stints at Fergus Falls Community College, St. Thomas, and Mankato West High School before finding his way to Gustavus.

Carroll began coaching the Gustavus baseball team in 1997 and the women’s hockey team in 1999.  In his 16 seasons on the diamond, Carroll has accumulated an overall record of 310-283 and an MIAC mark of 173-147.  Since taking over the Gustie women’s hockey team, Carroll has turned the program into an NCAA Division III power.  He has an overall record of 287-68-22 in 13 seasons and has directed the Black and Gold to 10 MIAC regular season titles and 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament.  Carroll is the winningest coach in both baseball and women’s hockey at Gustavus.

Mike is the fourth member of the Carroll family to be inducted in the Edina Athletic Hall of Fame, joining his brothers Steve, Dan, and Pat.  Of the seven children in the Carroll family, Mike, Steve, Tom, Pat, Dan, Jim, and Ann, all earned All-Lake Conference in at least one sport during their high school athletic careers.

“It’s humbling to be the fourth of my family to enter the Hall.  Being the oldest in a long line of great athletes is really what stands out for me,” said Carroll.