By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — A school-record 62 Saint Mary's University winter/spring student-athletes earned Academic All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognition.
 
On Tuesday, the MIAC announced its 2019-20 winter and spring Academic All-Conference Teams, which included a record 1,057 student-athletes. Combined with the 437 fall-sport athletes who were honored in January, the overall total of Academic All-Conference selections for the 2019-20 academic year sets a new conference-high of 1,494, surpassing the previous record of 1,174, set last June — and marking the fifth consecutive year in which the MIAC has recognized more than 1,000 Academic All-Conference student-athletes.

This year's Academic All-Conference list spotlights 1,494 examples of student-athletes achieving excellence without compromise. For the first time ever, the winter and spring sport totals exceeded 1,000 student-athletes, with all 14 sports setting new single-season records. Women's track and field became the first MIAC sport to surpass 200 Academic All-Conference student-athletes in a single year with a record total of 209, while men's track and field had the second-most honorees this year with 155. Baseball surpassed the century mark for the first time ever with 118 honorees, followed by softball (95), men's hockey (70), women's hockey (70), women's tennis (57), women's swimming and diving (55), women's basketball (53), men's tennis (40), men's basketball (37), men's golf (33), men's swimming and diving (33), and women's golf (32).
 
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. Athletically, winter team sport student-athletes must have competed in 50 percent of their team's regular-season varsity contests. In addition, hockey goalies must have played in one-third (33.3 percent) of their team's total minutes played for the regular season. Swimming and diving competitors must have placed in the top-16 of an individual event or relay at the 2020 MIAC Championships to be eligible. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the 2020 spring season, the athletic requirements for spring sport student-athletes was waived this year.

The baseball team led the way for the Cardinals with 10 academic all-conference selections, while the women's and men's track and field teams were close behind with nine and eight honorees, respectively.
 
James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) — named CoSIDA Academic All-American® earlier this month — spearheaded the 10 baseball selections, and was joined by Max Faust (Stillwater, Minn.), Dom Lonetti (St. Paul, Minn.), Jacob French (Winona, Minn.), Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.), Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.), Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.), Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.), Keegan Majerus (Pine Island, Minn.), and Zach Streit (Circle Pines, Minn.)>
 
Alyssa Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill.), Madison Gueningsman (Winsted, Minn.), Danielle Franke (Mounds View, Minn.), Rachel Ohde (Chetek, Wis.), Rachel Simon (Foley, Minn.), Sydney Klausler, Lakeville, Minn.), Anna Marinc (Carol Stream, Ill.), Tabitha Fabin (Elk Grove, Ill.), and Emma Ririe (Darien, Ill.) represented the women's track and field team, while Ben Borash (Bowlus, Minn.), Dean Marlin (Sauk Rapids, Minn.), Tanner Moris (Crandon, Minn.), Ted Sweet (River Falls, Wis.), Nathan Hoglund (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), Anthony Pasquesi (Elmwood Park, Ill.), Jordan Malikowski (Royalton, Minn.), and Cole Hagen (Shakopee, Minn.) were the men's track and field award recipients.
 
The fastpitch softball team landed six academic all-conference picks — Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.), Anna Rystrom (Andover, Minn.), Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.), Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.), Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), and Haley Williams (Littleton, Colo.).
 
Both the men's and women's hockey teams, and the women's basketball team, picked up five academic honorees. Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.), Jack Hatton (Chicago, Ill.), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), and Robert Roslund (Vanersborg, Sweden) were named from the men's hockey team; Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.), Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.), Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.), Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.), and Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) represented the women's hockey team; and Schmeling, Jada Biermeier (Eau Claire, Wis.), Claire Patterson (Marine, Minn.), Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.), and Isabel Bettag (Maple Park, Ill.) were selected from the women's basketball team.
 
Kristjan Meitz (Waukesha, Wis.), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.), Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.), and Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis.) were named from the men's basketball team, while the women's tennis team also had four selections — Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.), Sarrianna Hoffer (Wausau, Wis.), Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.), and Emily Strezishar (East Grand Forks, Minn.) — and Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.), Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.), and Alec Rudh (Hastings, Minn.) were picked from the men's tennis team.
 
Other Academic All-MIAC recipients included Griffin Rades (Shawano, Wis.) and Claire King (Red Wing, Minn.) from the men's and women's swimming teams, respectively, and Jake Emeott (Chisago City, Minn.) from the men's golf team.