A whopping 70 Saint Mary’s University student-athletes earned Academic All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognition for the winter-spring semester.
On Monday, the MIAC announced its 2021-22 Winter and Spring Academic All-Conference honorees, which included a record 1,299 student-athletes. Combined with the 779 fall-sport athletes who were honored in January, the overall total of Academic All-Conference selections for the 2021-22 academic year sets a new Conference-high of 2,078, surpassing the previous record of 1,778, set last June.
The latest Academic All-Conference list spotlights nearly 1,300 examples of student-athletes achieving excellence without compromise. This is the third consecutive June in which the MIAC’s winter/spring Academic All-Conference list has exceeded 1,000 student-athletes, with 12 sports setting new single-season records in the process.
In order to qualify for Academic All-MIAC status, student-athletes must be sophomores, juniors, or seniors by academic standards with a minimum cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Students must also have completed one full-time academic year at their current institution prior to becoming eligible for the honor.
The SMU baseball team led the way for the Cardinals, landing 11 student-athletes on the team, two more than men’s basketball and men’s hockey, while women’s hockey and women’s track and field each boasted eight honorees.
Seth Gonring (Madison, Wis.), Lucas Henderson (Farmington, Minn.), Brett Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.), Keegan Majerus (Pine Island, Minn.), Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.), Mason Palmer (Holmen, Wis.), Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.), Derek Sonmore (Blaine, Minn.), Zach Streit (Lino Lakes, Minn.), Bob Tilot (Pulaski, Minn.), and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) made up the 11 Cardinal baseball players named Academic All-MIAC, while Noah Frechette (Lakeville, Minn.), Mason Klett (Apple Valley, Minn.), Eion Kressin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), Tanner Linduski (Eau Claire, Wis.), Chris Orsello (Chicago, Ill.), Francis Perroud (Villa Elisa, Argentina), Hunter Phillips (Minong, Wis.), Joey White (Bluff Siding, Wis.), and Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) represented the men’s basketball team, and Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kasyn Kruse (Luverne, Minn.), Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), Trevor Paradise (Colorado Springs, Col)., Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.), Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.), and Parker Swanson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) were men’s hockey selections.
Maddie Wilsey (Little Canada, Minn.), Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.), Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.), Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.), Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), Abigail Painovich (Hinckley, Minn.), Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.), and Rose Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) made the grade for the women’s hockey team, with Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.), Emily Kern (Buffalo, Minn.), Sydney Klausler (Lakeville, Minn.), Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.), Rachel Simon (Foley, Minn.), Amanda Tuvey (West St. Paul, Minn.), Abrianna Utgaard (Star Prairie, Wis.), and Madison Weis (Annandale, Minn.) were members of the women’s track and field team on the squad.
Six members of the fastpitch softball team — Abby Nosbisch (Chatfield, Minn.), Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.), Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.), Brittney Blacker (Castle Rock, Colo.), Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa), and Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) — six members of the men’s track and field team — Quinn Steinbrecher (Holmen, Wis.), Isaiah Brindamour (Hinckley, Minn.), Sean Curran (Appleton, Wis.), Andrew Martin (Shell Lake, Wis.), Gabe Bickerstaff (Rollingstone, Minn.), and Coleton Strupp (Holmen, Wis.) — were also among those named academic All-MIAC.
Women’s basketball’s Jada Biermeier (Eau Claire, Wis.), Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.), Valerie Higgins (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.), and Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.); Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.), Ella Boomgaarden (St. Peter, Minn.), Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.), Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.), and Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.) of the women’s tennis team; and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.), Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.), and Matt Besek (Winona Minn.) of the men’s tennis team rounded out the Cardinal honorees.
