Release courtesy of Matt Higgins, MIAC Assistant Executive Director
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Remarkably, student-athletes in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) keep finding ways to achieve both in their chosen sports and in the classroom at ever-improving rates. For the first time in MIAC history, the conference recognized more than 1,000 student-athletes with Academic All-Conference honors.
Tuesday, the MIAC announced its 2015-16 Winter and Spring Academic All-Conference Teams, which included a staggering total of 673 student-athletes. Combined with the 357 fall-sport athletes who were honored in January, the overall total of Academic All-Conference selections soared to 1,030. That number was not only the MIAC’s first time honoring more than 1,000 student-athletes, it smashed the previous best total (989 in 2014-15) by 41 student-athletes.
The 673 Winter and Spring honorees had plenty to do with the MIAC’s new high-water mark. That number is 40 better than the previous record – 633 also set in 2014-15, and the fall total of 357 was also one better than the previous record (356 in 2014-15). The Academic All-Conference list gives the MIAC 1,030 sterling examples of student-athletes achieving at the highest possible level. The full Winter and Spring Academic All-Conference teams can be found below, and the Fall selections were announced in January.
Academically, student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior, or senior with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale to qualify for MIAC Academic All-Conference recognition. Athletically, student-athletes in team sports must compete in 50 percent of their team’s regular-season varsity contests. The team sports eligible were baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, softball and men’s and women’s tennis. In addition, baseball pitchers who made five appearances or completed 20 innings pitched were eligible, as were hockey goalies who played in one-third (33.3 percent) of their team’s total minutes played for the regular season.
The winter and spring individual sports each have sport-specific criteria, and they include golf, swimming and diving and both indoor and outdoor track and field. Golfers must compete in the MIAC championships or complete a minimum of 12 competitive rounds in order to be eligible for the honor. The swimming and diving qualifications require a student-athlete to finish in the top 16 of an individual event or compete in a relay race at the MIAC championships to be eligible. Track and field qualifications require student-athletes to score in an individual event or compete on a relay team at the MIAC Championships.
Of the 675 Winter and Spring selections, 403 were women and 272 were men. Women’s outdoor track and field led the way with 83 honorees, and women’s indoor track and field was next with 78 selections, followed by women’s hockey with 53 student-athletes recognized. Outdoor track and field had the most men’s selections with 57, and both men’s indoor track and field and men’s hockey had 50 student-athletes honored apiece. The other sport totals can be found below in the full list.
MIAC Academic All-Conference honors are announced twice annually, after the completion of the fall and spring academic semesters. Gustavus’s 2015-16 winter and spring Academic All-Conference honorees are listed below, classified alphabetically first by sport. To see the 2015 Fall All-Conference honorees, click here, or click here to visit the MIAC Academic All-Conference archives.
Baseball (4)
Daniel Carlson (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.)
Joshua Chatfield (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.)
John DeMarias (Jr., Winona, Minn.)
Isaiah Welckle (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.)
Men’s Basketball (2)
Jacob Herd (So., Waconia)
Chad Poppen (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.)
Women’s Basketball (3)
Cara Christiansen (Jr., Mankato, Minn.)
Lindsey Johnson (Sr., Edina, Minn.)
Miranda Rice (So., Forest Lake, Minn.)
Men’s Golf (4)
Alec Aunan (So., Rock Island, Ill.)
Andrew Brandt (Sr., Medina, Minn.)
Christopher Captain (So., Rochester, Minn.)
Alex Koopmeiners (Jr., St Cloud, Minn.)
Women’s Golf (4)
Chloe Altmann (Sr., Olivia, Minn.)
Emilie Anderson (Sr., Osceola, Wis.)
Mae Meierhenry (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Jessica Nelson (So., Wayzata, Minn.)
Men’s Hockey (5)
Drew Aspinwall (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.)
Jared Docken (Jr., Northfield, Minn.)
Cameron Jackson (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.)
Alex Koopmeiners (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.)
Samuel Majka (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.)
Women’s Hockey (2)
Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.)
Erica Power (So., Lakeville, Minn.)
Men’s Indoor Track and Field (6)
Carston Dammann (Jr., Lake City, Minn.)
Samuel Fischer (Sr., Sauk Centre, Minn.)
Alex Fredrickson (Jr., Victoria, Minn.)
David Hoien (Jr., South Haven, Minn.)
Paul Nordquist (Sr., Edina, Minn.)
Edward ReMine (Jr., Mantorville, Minn.)
Women’s Indoor Track and Field (8)
Mikaela Algren (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.)
Kaitlin Bembenek (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.)
Courtney Branch (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.)
Ashley Elford (So., Red Wing, Minn.)
Lydia Hayes (So., Decorah, Iowa)
Kara Helgeson (Sr., Ortonville, Minn.)
Marit Sonnesyn (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.)
Sarah Swanson (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska)
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field (4)
Carston Dammann (Jr., Lake City, Minn.)
Samuel Fischer (Sr., Sauk Centre, Minn.)
Alex Fredrickson (Jr., Victoria, Minn.)
Edward ReMine (Jr., Mantorville, Minn.)
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field (10)
Mata Agre (Sr., Corcoran, Minn.)
Mikaela Algren (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.)
Kaitlin Bembenek (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.)
Courtney Branch (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.)
Kelsey Harms (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.)
Lydia Hayes (So., Decorah, Iowa)
Kara Helgeson (Sr., Ortonville, Minn.)
Lauren Shurson (Sr, Chanhassen, Minn.)
Marit Sonnesyn (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.)
Sarah Swanson (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska)
Softball (6)
Kaitlyn Bicek (Sr., Northfield, Minn.)
Alissa Hoffman (Jr., New Prague, Minn.)
Rachel Malo (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.)
Jessica Neuman (So., Elk River, Minn.)
Rachel Strandmark (So., New Ulm, Minn.)
Jessica Williams (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.)
Women’s Swimming and Diving (5)
Erin Baumann (Jr., Madison, Wis.)
Morgan Field (Sr, Albert Lea, Minn.)
Julia Kramer (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.)
Jenna Muntifering (Jr., Buffalo, Minn.)
Marina Rizzo (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.)
Men’s Tennis (2)
Thomas Entwistle (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Gabriel Steinwand (So., Moorhead, Minn.)
Women’s Tennis (4)
Katherine Aney (So., Rochester, Minn.)
Alison Baker (So., Rosemount, Minn.)
Michaela Schulz (Jr., Elk River, Minn.)
Elizabeth Stanczyk (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.)