DULUTH, MN – It started with a 3-0 season opening volleyball triumph over Northern Michigan University on Sept. 4 and wrapped up with an All-American outdoor track performance by freshman Emilee Trost on Memorial Day weekend. In between, the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) experienced a multitude of highlights -- including a few program firsts -- in each of the three C's (competition, classroom and community) during the course of the 2014-15 athletic season.
"The past year was another one full of exceptional accomplishments for the Bulldog student-athletes, coaches and staff," said UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo. "It included several record-setting achievements in the classroom, community and competition. I offer my sincere congratulations for these successes as well as deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the UMD faculty and staff who support these efforts and to all of Bulldog Country for their steadfast support of our teams. Go 'Dogs!"
Those noteworthy achievements included:
• UMD produced 18 All-Americans, including one Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year in junior volleyball setter Ashley Hinsch. Trost hit the All-American trifecta – cross country, indoor track (fourth in the mile run) and outdoor track (fourth in the 1,500-meter run) – during her debut Bulldog go-around, while senior offensive guard Andrew Muer became the first Bulldog to be named to seven different All-American football teams in the same season.
• Under the direction of second-year Head Coach Curt Wiese, the football Bulldogs rolled to the program's fifth undefeated regular season, going 11-0, and along the way captured a share of their 19th NSIC title – a league record. UMD, which closed out the year with a 13-1 overall record (the third most triumphs in team history) and checked in at No. 3 in the final American Football Coaches Association II poll, also secured their seventh consecutive NCAA II playoff berth and advanced to the quarterfinal round.
• UMD assembled another historic volleyball season in 2015, finishing 33-2 overall for a .943 winning percentage – the best ever posted by a Bulldog club. UMD was defeated just once during the regular season – to No. 1 ranked (and eventual NCAA II champion) University of Tampa – went a perfect 20-0 against NSIC competition, and reigned as the league playoffs titleholders for a second straight year. The Bulldogs went on to host their second straight NCAA II Central Region Tournament as the No. 1 seed and were upended in the championship match by a streaking Southwest Minnesota State club. Still, UMD boasted a program-high six players who received All-America honors and held down the No. 3 spot in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II poll.
• The women's cross country team was rated among the top five NCAA II schools nationally from the outset of the 2014 season and the Bulldogs lived up to that billing by placing third – their highest finish ever – at the NCAA II championships in Louisville, Ky. That came two weeks after the Bulldogs captured their second NCAA II Central Region championship in as many years with sophomore All-American Samantha Rivard leading the way. Rivard outran 189 other runners at that event en route to becoming just the third Bulldog ever to lay claim to a NCAA II regional title.
• Senior soccer forward Maureen Stormont became UMD's all-time scoring (126 points) and goals (54) leader, snapping the previous mark that had stood for 14 years.
• Men's hockey eclipsed the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in the past seven years and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament before being ousted by national runner-up Boston University. (The Bulldogs have now made for of the last seven NCAA Tournaments -- their most appearances in that period of time in program history). UMD, whose strength of schedule during the regular season ranked first in the country for the second straight winter, checked in at No. 6 in the final USCHO.com poll.
• After going without a single home baseball game the previous two seasons due to uncooperative weather, UMD served up nine doubleheaders at Bulldog Park and Wade Stadium and proceeded to compile a 35-16 overall record. Those 35 wins were one shy of the team's single-season record.
• Outfielder Hannah Schmoll and shortstop Becky Smith were are among the Top 10 finalists for the inaugural National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II National Freshman of the Year award. UMD was the only to school to produce two finalists and Schmoll and Smith were the lone representatives from NSIC.
• UMD's 412 student-athletes, which includes redshirted freshmen, posted an average GPA 3.18 – an all-time high (bettering the previous mark of 3.16 set one year earlier) – in 2014-15 and of that group, 99 achieved GPAs of 3.50 or above and 11 turned in perfect 4.00 marks. The women's basketball Bulldogs registered the best collective GPA (3.61) of any UMD team during the 2014-15 school year while soccer (3.33) and tennis (3.32) were next. Bulldog student-athletes have now eclipsed the 3.10 GPA plateau in each of the last five semesters.
• A total of 80 UMD student-athletes qualified for a spot on the NSIC All-Academic Team at some point in 2014-15. In addition, 14 Bulldog men and eight women earned All-Academic Team status from the NCHC and WCHA, respectively.
• Seven Bulldogs – Courtney Driscoll (soccer), Aaron Handorff (men's track and field), Alyssa Kerkhoff (women's basketball), Amelia Maher (women's track and field), Katie Schneider (soccer), Maureen Stormont (soccer) and Ana Zdechlik (soccer)– were bestowed with a prestigious NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic Award for maintaining a 3.75 GPA or above during their college careers.
• Maher, who graduated this past May with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and did so with a cumulative grade point average of 3.92, was a Capital One Academic All-American second team selection. Maher was also the top point producer at the NSIC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
• USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country recognition was awarded to six women (Trost, Breanna Colbenson, McKenzie Holt, Hannah Olson, Alexandra Rudin, and Amber Seidenkranz) while the UMD men and women were both recognized as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above.
• Seniors Jacob Brusehaver, Gavin Grady and Ryan Miesbauer all attained National Football Foundation Honor Society distinction.
• Seven women -- Colbenson, Maher, Rudin, Trost, Jennifer Hitchcock and Madeloine Schaeffer – along with senior Dan Nielsen secured USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field status. The UMD women were also cited as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above.
• The Jamar Athletic Academic Study Center, which is housed in the UMD Sports and Health Center complex, celebrated its 16th year of existence and through the support of the Jamar Company (and in memory of Walker Jamar Jr.), it continued to pay major dividends for the Bulldogs in the classroom.
• UMD student-athletes and staff logged approximately 2,000 volunteer hours during the 2014-15 school year. In addition to volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, Churches United in Ministry (CHUM), the Damiano Center Kid's Cafe, Arrowhead Juvenile Center, Second Harvest Food Bank, Minnesota Teen Challenge, Men as Peacemakers, and numerous local elementary schools (reading), hospitals and youth sports organizations such as the Salvation Army Basketball League, the Duluth Amateur Hockey Association, the Duluth Girls Hockey Association, and Duluth Little League Baseball/Softball, the Bulldogs also were involved in a large number of charitable projects such as Mentor Duluth (Big Brothers/Big Sisters), Salvation Army's Adopt-A-Family, Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-A-Highway, Special Olympics, Make-A-Wish, the ALS Blizzard Tour, Essentia Health's Breast Cancer Awareness, UMD's Stop Domestic Violence Campaign, Lions Club Pancake Day, Locks of Love, Think Pink Night, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, UDAC's Walk a Mile in Our Shoes Walkathon, It's A Slam Dunk…Don't Drive Drunk, and the ALS Walleye Tournament.
• Seven individuals – the second largest group in school history – were named finalists for the Shjon Podein Community Service Award, which has been presented annually since 2003 to a UMD student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the field of play and has made noteworthy humanitarian contributions in the Duluth and University communities. That honor was bestowed on senior soccer defender Kelli Klun at UMD's Dinner With Champions banquet in early May.
• Zoe Hickel became the first Bulldog to be chosen a Top 5 finalist for the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award while fellow hockey senior forward Adam Krause was a nominee for both the Hockey Humanitarian Award and the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
• UMD's average men's hockey home attendance of 6,411 this winter was a program record and the fifth highest figure turned in by any of the nation's 59 NCAA Division I hockey-playing schools. The Bulldogs also set a single-game attendance mark on Nov. 15 when 7,424 spectators packed AMSOIL Arena to see the Bulldogs take down Minnesota 2-1.
• UMD athletic sponsorships topped the $1 million mark (cash and in kind) for the first time ever. The Bulldogs have approximately 125 sponsorship partners and this year secured their first six-figure a year cash sponsor. (A complete 2014-15 UMD fundraising/development wrap-up and an announcement about a record-breaking gift will be published on umdbulldogs.com later this month).
• @umdbulldogs now has nearly 8,800 Twitter followers – the second most of any NCAA II athletic department in the nation.
• Over 200,000 fans attended Bulldog home events in 2014-15, including 26,000 students.
• Rookie goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo's amazing behind-the-back save against Miami on Oct. 31 at AMSOIL Arena (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSHr3UFvBGE) made ESPN Sports Center's Top 10 List (No. 3) and generated 600,000-plus views on YouTube.
• UMD Athletics was recognized for its innovative marketing and fan-experience efforts this past June when it received three "Best of" Awards – two Gold citations and one Bronze honor – from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). For complete story click here.
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