Academic All-MIAC Teams

By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

WINONA, Minn. — Twenty Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fall student-athletes earned Academic All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognition, it was announced Wednesday.
 
For the sixth consecutive year, the MIAC has honored a record number of fall sport student-athletes with Academic All-Conference recognition.

A total of 409 student-athletes from the 13 MIAC institutions earned the prestigious honor this year after meeting all sport-specific athletic requirements and possessing a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale following the fall semester. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior with at least one year (two semesters) at their current institution. Athletically, student-athletes in fall team sports (football, volleyball, soccer) must compete in 50 percent of their team's regular-season varsity contests. Cross country student-athletes are required to finish in the overall top 100 or their team's top seven at the 2017 MIAC Cross Country Championship. Between the on-field component and lofty GPA standard, the MIAC Academic All-Conference honor is a perfect blend of the balanced excellence championed by the MIAC and NCAA Division III.

This is now the sixth year in a row the total of Fall Academic All-Conference honorees has increased. In 2011, 301 student-athletes were recognized with Academic All-Conference distinction. That number rose to 330 in 2012, 334 in 2013, 356 in 2014, 357 in 2015 and 380 last year.

Each individual fall sport also saw its total number of Academic All-Conference student-athletes increase in 2017. Women's soccer had the most honorees with 95 (87 in 2016), and football was a close second with 88 student-athletes honored (83 in 2016). Men's soccer had 68 honorees (62 in 2016), women's cross country had 62 (59 in 2016), volleyball had 56 (54 in 2016) and men's cross country had 40 (35 in 206).
The Cardinal women's soccer team led the way for Saint Mary's with six student-athletes on the Academic All-MIAC Team, while the Cardinal women's cross country team landed five student-athletes, and the men's cross country, men's soccer, and volleyball teams all boasted three selections.
 
Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), Natalie Ruegsegger (Billings, Mont.), Carina Friend (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Erin McElligott (New York, N.Y.), Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Molly Homeyer (Arlington, Texas) all earned academic honors for the women's soccer team, while Danielle Franke (Mounds View, Minn.), Emily Ortiz (Albert Lea, Minn.), Molly Sweet (Prescott, Wis.), Alyssa Thiel (Berlin, Wis.), and Erika Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill.) represented the women's cross country team.
 
Cardinal men's soccer players Zack Bracken (Osseo, Minn.), Sean Butcher (Cave Creek, Ariz.) and Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.), along with Ben Borash (Bowlus, Minn.), Brandon Krogman (Owatonna, Minn.), and Austin O'Hare (Rushford, Minn.) of the men's cross country team, and Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.), Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa), and Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) of the volleyball team were also named to the all-academic team.