34 Cobbers Earn MIAC Academic Honors
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/26/17)--Concordia had 34 student/athletes who participated in the fall athletic season earn MIAC Academic All-Conference honors.
The Cobbers’ total number of Academic All-Conference award winners represents an increase of seven student/athletes from last fall and is the highest total in the fall for Concordia since 2014.
The Cobber football team led the way for Concordia with 12 players who earned the academic distinction while the women’s soccer team had eight earn Academic All-Conference honors.
The MIAC set a remarkable new standard with a record 381 student-athletes named Academic All-Conference in the fall of 2016.
Concordia also had six student/athletes earn the award for the third consecutive year which is the most allowable under the conference guidelines. The three-time Academic All-Conference honorees include Matt Ahrndt from football, men’s soccer goalie Ben Glogoza, Erika Grinde, Carly Mickelson, Emily Wendorff of the women’s soccer team and Jena Klaphake from volleyball.
Those 381 honored student-athletes all met sport-specific athletic requirements and possess a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. Student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior with at least one year (two semesters) at their current institution to be eligible for the award. Between the on-field component and lofty GPA standard, the MIAC Academic All-Conference honor is a perfect blend of the balanced excellence championed by the MIAC and NCAA Division III.
The MIAC saw its record total of Fall Academic All-Conference honorees rise for the fifth-straight year with its new record total of 381, which was 24 better than 2015's previous record of 357. That continued the upward trend of honorees, starting with 301 in 2011, 330 and 2012, 334 in 2013 and 356 in 2014.
The sport-by-sport numbers were just as impressive as the overall total on the Fall 2016 Academic All-Conference list. Women's Soccer led the way with 87 selections, and football was a close second with 83 student-athletes honored. Men's soccer had 62 honorees, women's cross country had 59, there were 55 volleyball student-athletes recognized and 35 men's cross country runners also received the honor. All six fall sports saw their total number of Academic All-Conference student-athletes increase from 2015 to 2016.
Athletically, student-athletes in team sports must compete in 50 percent of their team's regular-season varsity contests. The team sports eligible were football, volleyball, men's soccer and women's soccer. Cross country student-athletes were required to finish in the overall top 100 or their team's top seven at the 2016 MIAC Cross Country Championship.
MIAC Academic All-Conference teams are announced twice annually, after the completion of both the fall and spring academic semesters. The MIAC Winter/Spring 2016-17 Academic All-Conference selections will be announced in late June. The MIAC has an online archive of Academic All-Conference honors.
Cobber MIAC Academic All-Conference Athletes – Fall 2016
Men’s Cross Country
Will Corbett (Sr., Pierz, Minn.)
Matthew Lillehaugen (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.)
Women’s Cross Country
Brianna Gruenberg (So., Moorhead, Minn.)
Laura Kisner (So., Big Lake, Minn.)
Maria West (Jr., Baxter, Minn.)
Football
Aaron Ahrndt (So., Benson, Minn.)
Matt Ahrndt (Sr., Benson, Minn.)
Jon Asprey (Sr., Brainerd, Minn.)
Treyton Austvold (So., Spicer, Minn.)
Jesse Bucholz (So., Perham, Minn.)
Connor Gessell (Jr., Baxter, Minn.)
Joe Hendrickson (Sr., Lennox, S.D.)
Gunnar Kollman (So., Fargo, N.D.)
Kevin Marzolf (So., Mankato, Minn.)
Dylan Raftevold (Jr., Fargo, N.D.)
Dane Ringquist (Jr., Fergus Falls, Minn.)
Noah Taylor (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Men’s Soccer
Benjamin Glogoza (Sr., Fargo, N.D.)
Wyatt Holwagner (So., Baldwin, N.D.)
Adam Kessler (Sr., Arden Hills, Minn.)
Spencer Lancaster (So., Fargo, N.D.)
Austin Peterson (So., Fargo, N.D.)
Austin Promersberger (Jr., Fargo, N.D.)
Women’s Soccer
Kirsten Bokinskie (So., Fargo, N.D.)
Kayla Dostal (Jr., Fargo, N.D.)
Erin Eidsness (So., Moorhead, Minn.)
Katie Gillette (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Erika Grinde (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.)
Carly Mickelson (Sr., Fargo, N.D.)
Maddy Reed (So., Brookings, S.D.)
Emily Wendorff (Sr., Fargo, N.D.)
Volleyball
Hayley Cuppett (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Emily Friedrich (So., Garfield, Minn.)
Jena Klaphake(Sr., Sauk Centre, Minn.)