B E TH A N Y Magazine
MEN’S GOLF The BLC men’s golf team took fifth place at the UMAC Championship. Jordan Petzel, a senior from Arlington, Minnesota, earned All-Conference First Team honors by finishing in sixth place overall at the three-day championship event. Sam Havnen, a senior from Fairmont, Minnesota, finished in 15th place overall and earned All-Conference Honorable Mention. Nic Meyer, a senior from Litchfield, Minnesota, was the team’s Sportsmanship Award recipient. Daniel Mundahl, announced that he would retire from coaching after the fall season. He had been the head coach of the Vikings since 2011 and amassed a UMAC record of 221-91. Mundahl led the team to a first place finish at the UMAC Championship in 2013, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. Josh Pederson, a 2014 graduate of Bethany, was selected to be the next head coach of the men’s golf program. Pederson played golf for the Vikings and was a captain from 2011-14. Pederson was a member of the team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2013. He currently works at BLC as the Manager of Human Resources.
WOMEN’S GOLF The BLC women’s golf team finished fifth at the UMAC Championships. Miranda Bresnahan, a freshman from St. Peter, Minnesota, was the top finisher for the Vikings. She tied for 13th place overall and earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. Mackenzie Manthei, a senior from Belview, Minnesota, also earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. The highlight of the fall season came at the University of Northwestern Invite when the Vikings captured first place. They finished ahead of Minnesota-Morris, UW-Superior, Martin Luther, and North Central. Bresnahan was the top finisher
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for BLC, finishing second overall and Manthei finished third overall. The women’s golf team also placed three student-athletes on the UMAC Academic All-Conference list including Katelyn Hardtke, Madalyn Hart, and Manthei.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY The Vikings men’s cross country team took fifth place at the UMAC Championships, which is the same finish as 2017. The Vikings finished with a point total of 167 which was 67 points behind fourth place finisher, Martin Luther. The Vikings did not have any all-conference performers this year, but they were led by sophomore Benjamin Tweit who finished in 24th place overall. Senior Stefan Prince was the second team finisher for BLC and finished in 27th place. He also received the Sportsmanship Award for the Vikings. Nathan Birr, Michael Bless, Ryan McCue, and Jacob Tesch earned UMAC Academic All-Conference honors.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY The Vikings women’s cross country team finished in sixth place at the UMAC Championships. The Vikings finished with 162 points which was 16 points behind fifth place finisher Crown. Morgan Sauer, a senior from Lismore, Minnesota, was the 13th overall finisher which earned her All-Conference Second Team honors. Sarah Presler, a sophomore from Brandon, South Dakota, was the second team finisher for the Vikings and took 14th place overall to earn All-Conference Second Team honors. Brianna Soutthivong, a junior from Mountain Lake, Minnesota, received the team’s Sportsmanship award. Margaret Degner, Mackenzie Floyd, Presler, and Sauer earned UMAC Academic All-Conference honors.
MEN’S SOCCER The Bethany Lutheran men’s soccer team finished the season with an overall record of 7-9-3, a six-win improvement over last year. They finished the UMAC in seventh place with a 3-6-3 record. After starting the season 1-2, the Vikings went 4-0-1 over a five-game stretch to make their record 5-2-1 overall which included a 2-0-1 start in UMAC play. Abel Solis, a freshman defender from Marshall, Minnesota, earned All-Conference Second Team honors for BLC. Nikita Pyatetskiy, a freshman from Cambrils, Spain, earned Honorable Mention honors. Antonino Guerrero, a senior from Mankato, received the team’s Sportsmanship Award. Long-time head coach Rob Pipal concluded his time at the helm of the men’s soccer program. Pipal started as the head coach of the Vikings in 1998 and was the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XIII Coach of the Year in 2002 and the UMAC Coach of the Year in 2010. Pipal was replaced by Derick Lyngholm who has spent the last 12 years leading the women’s soccer program. Lyngholm finished his time with the women’s program as the winningest coach in history with 99 career victories and six postseason trips. He is a 1997 Bethany alumnus, and is an instructor in Bethany Lutheran’s Communication Department.
WOMEN’S SOCCER The Bethany women’s soccer team finished the season with an overall record of 10-8 which is three wins better than 2017. The Vikings were 6-6 in UMAC play and finished in sixth place, just missing the postseason tournament. BLC finished tied with the fifth place team Minnesota-Morris, but lost the tiebreaker which determined who would advance to the UMAC playoffs. The Vikings placed three players on the All-Conference CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
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