WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University student-athletes made it a clean sweep of the NCAA Division III Team Works Service Challenge, once again sitting atop the team standings over the second semester.  

Cardinal student-athletes, who logged 2,204 volunteer honors in claiming first-semester honors, picked up where they left off in the second semester, tacking on another 1,100+ second-semester hours to close out the year as the top NCAA Division III school for 2021-22.  

NCAA Team Works, which coordinates community service efforts at the NCAA championships, and Helper Helper — a volunteer management and tracking platform — launched the community service competition to recognize student-athletes who give back to their communities.  

Saint Mary's closed out the second semester atop the team standings, followed by Shenandoah University, SUNY-Oswego, New Jersey City University, and University of the Ozarks.  

The Cardinal women's hockey team placed second in the individual team competition, boasting 930 volunteer hours — finishing behind SUNY-Oswego's women's hockey team, and in front of Shenandoah's women's field hockey and women's lacrosse teams.

 "It was great to see all of our student-athletes come together and give back in such a major way,' said Saint Mary's women's hockey coach Sarah Murray, whose two-person coaching staff joined forces with the women's hockey team to record more than 1,000 volunteer hours. "Our student-athletes certainly did give of their time for the recognition, but to be able to showcase what Saint Mary's student-athletes accomplished is pretty special."  

Other top Saint Mary's sports program performers included: baseball (395 hours), men's soccer (345 hours), men's hockey (333 hours), fastpitch softball (234 hours), and volleyball (185 hours).

"As part of our vision as an athletic department, we wanted to accomplish excellence in the area of community service and having a tremendous impact on others," said Saint Mary's athletic director Brian Sisson. "Our student-athletes and staff certainly did that this past academic year, and we are extremely proud and honored by this achievement.    

"I look forward to us challenging ourselves next year to surpass our mark this year."