Athletics Wrap Up

BY KATIEJO SVENSON • COORDINATOR OF SPORTS INFORMATION

CROSS COUNTRY

Due to COVID restrictions the cross country season in 2020 was cancelled.

BASEBALL

Record: 16-15 overall, 12-4 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC)

Three Vikings earned First Team All-Conference honors: Ross Beumer (Northfield, Minn), Dallas McBroom (Elysian, Minn.) and Logan Nissen (Olivia, Minn.). Honorable Mention honors went to Alec Gratz (North Mankato, Minn.) and Brody Curtiss (Belle Plaine, Minn.) Beumer was also an All-Region selection.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Record: 6-4 overall, 4-3 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) was named First Team All-Conference and Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) earned Honorable Mention. Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) was also named Honorable Mention and earned a spot on the All-Defensive team.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

UMAC Champions (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Record: 9-1 overall, 6-1 UMAC

The women's basketball team defeated North Central on March 8 to take the UMAC Tournament Championship for the third straight year.

Photo by David Norris

The Bethany women's basketball team claimed the second-consecutive regular season Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championship, and also won its third-straight UMAC Tournament Championship in 2021. This means the Vikings qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, though unfortunately, those championships were cancelled. Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) was named First Team All-Conference and was the UMAC MVP. Abby Olson (Montevideo, Minn.) was also a First Team All-Conference Selection. Sara Kottke (Buffalo Lake, Minn.) was named UMAC Rookie of the Year and was Honorable Mention All-Conference. Geistfeld became the program's first All American in the Division III era as she was named Second Team All American by D3hoops.com.

MEN'S GOLF

Third place at the UMAC Championships

Gabe Stoesz (Waseca, Minn.) was named First Team All-Conference. This marks the third straight season a Viking golfer has been named All-Conference.

WOMEN'S GOLF

Sixth place at the UMAC Championships

Hayley Thompson (Victoria, Minn.) was named First Team All-Conference. This marks the fifth straight season a Viking golfer has been named All-Conference.

MEN'S SOCCER

Record: 7-2 overall, 6-1 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Max Busch (Odenthal, Germany) was named the UMAC MVP and head coach Derek Lyngholm was named UMAC Coach of the Year. Busch also earned Second Team Academic All-America honors as selected by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA). He is the first selection in Bethany men's soccer program history since transitioning to NCAA DIII. Also named to the First Team All-Conference were Thijs Middeldorp (Landgraaf, The Netherlands), Vincent Ayodi (Nairobi, Kenya), and Benjamin Phillips (Kingston, Jamaica). Second Team honors went to Cameron Brookfield (Cheshire, England) and Domingos Vital (Estonil, Portugal). Julio Castanon (Ciudad Victoria, Mexico) received Honorable Mention.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Record: 4-4 overall, 3-4 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Maddie Perry (Anoka, Minn.) and Sadie Sandersfeld (Fairmont, Minn.) were named Second Team All-Conference and Brooke Wolanin (Littleton, Col.), Asia Jota (Pasadena, Cal.), and Juana Quevado (Bogata, Colombia) all earned Honorable Mention accolades.

SOFTBALL

Record: 21-17 overall; 12-4 UMAC

Zoe Kinakin (Victoria, British Columbia) was named First Team All-Conference. This was the eleventh straight year a Viking received First Team honors. Honorable Mention went to Ana Christofferson (Mankato, Minn.), Alyssa Kosta (Redding, Cal.), and Kassidy Cunningham (Portage La Prairie, Manitoba).

MEN'S TENNIS

Record: 1-8 overall, 1-5 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Marcos Borobia Arias (Zaragoza, Spain) was named All-Conference. This is the seventh straight year a Vikings men's tennis player has received this honor.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

Record: 2-6 overall, 1-4 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Fifth Place at UMAC Championships

Jake Marzinske (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) was named the UMAC MVP (field events) and UMAC Rookie of the Year.

MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Third Place at the UMAC Championships

Jake Marzinske was a repeat winner of the UMAC MVP award (field events) and UMAC Rookie of the Year for the outdoor season.

WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Fifth Place at UMAC Championships Kayla Tobin (Watertown, Wis.) earned All-Conference for her win in the 3,000m run and the Distance Medley Relay team of Tobin, Cianna Hoppe, Chloe Kuhlman, Jordan Merwin captured All-Conference honors.

WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Sixth Place at UMAC Championships

Megan McCue (Mountain Lake, Minn.) was named the UMAC Rookie of the Year. This is the first time Megan McCue Bethany Lutheran has earned Rookie of the Year honors in women's outdoor track and field program history.

VOLLEYBALL

Record: 4-6 overall, 3-5 UMAC (Conference Only Schedule in 2021)

Kasidy Cacka (Brownton, Minn.) was named Second Team All-Conference. This marks the fifth straight year and sixteenth overall season a Viking has received All-Conference accolades.

ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE

Eighty-Five Bethany student-athletes were named to the UMAC Academic All-Conference list. Individuals who earn a 3.5 or better grade point average (GPA) during their respective semesters of competition are recognized with the prestigious honor.