UMC Student-Athletes Earn NSIC Spring All-Academic Honors

CROOKSTON, Minn.- The University of Minnesota Crookston spring athletic teams showed vast improvement in the classroom in 2014 as 26 student-athletes were named to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Spring All-Academic Teams as announced by the conference office Wednesday. This number is up from just 12 during the 2013 season.

To be eligible for this honor, the student-athlete must be a member of the varsity traveling team and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher.  Furthermore, the athlete must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her/his institution (true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at that institution.

The UMC baseball had six student-athletes honored as UMC Male Student-Athlete of the Year Jesse Jennings (Jr., OF, Robbinsdale, Minn./Criminal Justice), Marcus Campbell (So., OF/P, St. Croix Falls, Wis./Golf and Turf Management), Trevor Buttermore (So., P/3B, North St. Paul, Minn./Criminal Justice), Ryan Haggstrom (So., C/1B, Apple Valley, Minn./Accounting), Jon Mittag (Sr., P, Glenville, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) and Richie Navratil (Sr., P, Blansko, Czech Republic/Sports and Rec Management) all received recognition.

The Golden Eagle softball team had eight of 14 team members for the 2014 season represented on the team. Kaylin Beatty (So., UT, Andover, Minn./Equine Science), Cateline Fafard (Sr., P/1B, Dauphin, Manitoba/Elementary Education), Allison Foley (So., SS, Lockport, Ill./Accounting), Shelby Hollinger (Jr., 2B, Neudorf, Saskatchewan/Health Science), Ashley Hoyle (So., UT, Blaine, Minn./Animal Science), Alexis Khoshaba (So., OF, Richmond, British Columbia/Sports and Rec Management), Josee Plante (Jr., 3B, Manitou, Manitoba/Sports and Rec Management) and Brooke Vatthauer (Jr., P/1B, Crookston, Minn./Health Science) all earned placement on the team.

The men’s golf team had four student-athletes recognized as Zach Cymbaluk (Jr., Crookston, Minn./Agricultural Business), Matt Bjorgo (Jr., Crookston, Minn./Information Technology Management), Michael Roedl (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Management) and Jesse Roscoe (Jr., Big Stone City, S.D./Golf and Turf Management) all met the guidelines for the team.

The Golden Eagle women’s golf team also had four recognized with Kelly Gustofson (Sr., Hermantown, Minn./Early Childhood Education), Mary Mikutowski (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Health Science), Rikki Roscoe (So., Big Stone City, S.D./Communication) and UMC Female Student-Athlete of the Year Katie Sheetz (So., Grand Rapids, Minn./Biology) earning the honor.

The tennis team rounded things out with four student-athletes earning recognition with Catherine Brown (So., Powell Butte, Ore./Animal Science), Emily Caldis (So., Roseville, Minn./Animal Science), Sarah Muellner (So., Rosemount, Minn./Natural Resources) and Casey Paris (Sr., Fairmont, Minn./Agricultural Business) earning placement on the team.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.