WINONA, Minn. — Eighteen Saint Mary’s University fall student-athletes earned Academic All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognition, it was announced Thursday.
The MIAC recognized a record 304 student-athletes, who represented the conference’s 13 institutions.
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 football, soccer, and volleyball must compete in 50% of their team’s varsity regular season contests. Golfers must be a member of their competing team at the conference championship and cross country runners must finish in the top 50 at the conference championship or be in the top seven of their team at the MIAC Championships.
The SMU volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross country teams, led the way, each landing four athletes on the Academic All-MIAC Team.
Jessica Larson (Pine Island, Minn.),
Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.),
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) and
Erika Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) represented the SMU volleyball team, while
David Feather (Oak Creek, Wis.), Robby McGuire (Rochester, Minn.),
Michael Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa) and
John Vallez (Eagan, Minn.) were named from the men’s cross country team, and
Brittany Kuehn (Sauk Rapids, Minn.),
Joanna Pace (Minocqua, Wis.),
Regina Quandt (Minneapolis, Minn.) and
Jill Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn.) were selected from the women’s cross country team.
Other SMU academic all-conference performers include
Brittney Nielsen (Apple Valley, Minn.),
Gia Puch (Des Plaines, Ill.) and
Katelyn Rizzi (Austin, Minn.) of the women’s golf team, and
Stephanie Marnocha (Appleton, Wis.),
Erin Morgan (Appleton, Wis.) and
Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) of the women’s soccer team.
MIAC Academic All-Conference awards are announced twice annually, after the completion of the fall and spring academic semesters.
Complete MIAC Academic All-Conference Team