SEASON REVIEWS

BY KATIEJO KUHENS • COORDINATOR OF SPORTS INFORMATION

CROSS COUNTRY

The women's cross country team placed sixth at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championships with 155 points. Junior Sarah Presler (Brandon, S.Dak.) was the top finisher for the Vikings to earn Second-Team All-Conference honors for the third time in her career. Freshman Cianna Hoppe (Lewiston, Minn.) joined her with Second-Team All-Conference honors.

The Bethany Lutheran men's cross country team placed fifth at the UMAC Championships.

MEN'S SOCCER

The men's soccer team finished 12-6-1 overall and 5-2-1 in conference games under head coach Derick Lyngholm. This was Lyngholm's first season overseeing the men's program after twelve seasons at the helm of the Bethany women's soccer program.

The Vikings qualified for the conference tournament for the first time since 2015. BLC set numerous season records, including a program-best seven-game winning streak.

Freshman Max Busch (Odenthal, Germany) was named the UMAC Rookie of the Year, First-Team All-Conference, First-Team All-Region and Third-Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches Association.

Freshmen Marcel Campabadal (Vilassar de Mar, Catalonia, Spain), Thijs Oldenhof (Utrecht, The Netherlands) and Luuk Oosterbosch (Veldhoven, The Netherlands) were all Second-Team selections.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

The women's soccer team finished 8-10 overall and 4-4 in conference games under first-year head coach Emma Morris. The Vikings qualified for the conference tournament for the first time since 2016.

Junior Maddie Perry (Anoka, Minn.) was named First-Team All-Conference to mark her third career All-Conference honor. Junior defender Sadie Sanderfeld (Fairmont, Minn.) earned Second-Team All-Conference honors.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team finished with an overall record of 11-17 and were 4-4 in conference matches. The Vikings advanced to the conference tournament for the second-straight year and third time in the last four years.

Senior Megan Rutt (Le Center, Minn.) earned FirstTeam All-Conference honors for the third time in her career. She is the first three-time All-Conference honoree in program history.

Senior Veeva Lee (St. Paul, Minn.) earned All-Conference honorable mention accolades.

GOLF

The men's golf team placed fifth at the UMAC Championships.

The Bethany Lutheran women's golf team tied for fourth. This marked the best finish for the program since 2015.

Freshman Hayley Thompson (Victoria, Minn.) finished fourth with her 265 to earn All-Conference honors. Head coach Matt Fletcher was named the Coach of the Year on the women's side.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Junior Sarah Presler was a two-time All-Conference winner with her second-place finish in the 800m and 5,000m runs. The Bethany Lutheran women's indoor track and field team took fourth place at the UMAC Championships.

The Bethany men's indoor track and field team placed third at the UMAC Championships. This was the best finish for the Vikings since 2014 when they also took third place.

All-Conference honorees were sophomore Keegan Rich (Mount Pleasant, Iowa) who won the 60 meter hurdles with his school-record time of 8.58, and freshman Jake Marzinske (St. Paul, Minn.) who won the triple jump with his school-record and Indoor Conference Championships record leap of 14.05 meters or 46-1¼ feet.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The men's basketball team finished with an overall record of 21-7, won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Vikings set nine season records: points (2,558), scoring average (91.4 PPG), field goals (963), field goal percentage (.510), three-point field goals (278), assists (541), blocked shots (120), conference wins (14) and overall wins (21).

The men's basketball team with coaches after winning the UMAC Tournament Championship.

Photo by David Norris

Sophomore Cire Mayfield (St. Louis Park, Minn.) led the team with 18.4 PPG and broke the season record in assists (197). Through two seasons in the program, on the career leader lists he is tenth in points (1,020), second in scoring average (19.2 PPG) and assists (335), ninth in field goals (380), and seventh in field goal percentage (.495) and free throw percentage (.785). He had the second-most points for a season (514) and field goals (199), and set the record in assists (197).

Senior Trenton Krueger (Eagan, Minn.) was the second-leading scorer at 16.4 PPG and led the team with 8.5 rebounds/game. He finished his career as the program's leader in field goals (478), field goal percentage (.632), rebounds (607), and blocked shots (83). Krueger also set the season marks in field goal percentage (.711) and rebounds (239).

Junior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) was the third-leading scorer at 13.3 PPG. He is fourth in career field goal percentage (.534) and three-point field goal percentage (.407), seventh in rebounds (433), second in blocked shots (60) and fourth in steals (106). His 183 rebounds this season stands fifth-best and was tied for ninth in blocks (22).

Junior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) rounded out the players in double digits with 12.8 PPG. Through one season with the team, he is eighth in scoring average, sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.402). He had the seventh-most assists in a season (112) and fourth-most steals (51).

Krueger and Mayfield both joined the 1,000 career point club. The duo were both named First-team All-Conference, which tied a school record for top-team honorees.

Freshman Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) had the third-most blocks in a season (31) and also ranks eighth on the career list in that category.

BLC won eleven straight games from December 28-February 5. This stands as the third-longest winning streak in program history.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The women's basketball team with coaches after winning the UMAC Tournament Championship.

Photo by David Norris

The women's basketball team finished with an overall record of 24-4, swept the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season and conference tournament championships, and made its secondstraight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings earned their first NCAA Tournament win in the 62-58 First-round victory over then-No. 6 Bethel. This was the first victory in the NCAA Tournament for any women's basketball team in UMAC history.

BLC set four season records: threepoint field goals (198), assists (144), wins (24), winning streak (13-straight games) and tied the mark in conference wins (14).

Junior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) led the team with her average of a double-double (20.8 PPG and 10.4 rebounds/game). She set the season records in points (582), scoring average (20.8 PPG), field goals (220), and games started (28). Through three seasons, she is first in field goal percentage (.572), second in field goals (511), third in games started (82) and points (1,327), fifth in scoring average (16.0 PPG), rebounds (635) and free throws (294), and seventh in free throw percentage (.739). Geistfeld set the single game marks in points (37) and field goals (16) against Northland on February 15.

Junior Abby Olson (Montevideo, Minn.) was the second-leading scorer (18.9 PPG). She added a team-high 86 assists and 47 steals. Olson set the season record in three-point field goal percentage (.407), had the third-most points for a season (528) and second-most three-point field goals (72). On the career leader list, she is first in three-point field goal percentage (.377) and free throw percentage (.820), second in points (1,348), assists (265) and three-point field goals (171), fourth in games played (80), free throws (301) and scoring average (16.9 PPG), fifth in field goals (438) and steals (154), and eighth in field goal percentage (.430).

The duo joined the 1,000 career point club and were both named First-team All-Conference. Geistfeld was honored as the UMAC Player of the Year and also received First-team All-Region honors from D3hoops.com.

Junior Kenlie Pytleski (East Chain, Minn.) will graduate early and ended her career with the program ranked fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.332), sixth in blocks (69), and 10 th in three-point field goals (71). Senior Emily Skrien (Nicollet, Minn.) leaves ranked seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.302), ninth in three-point field goals (83), and tenth in games played (83).

Bethany set a record with 13-straight victories from December 14-February 5. This broke the old mark of nine consecutive set last season.