Gene's Blog: Fritz makes 4... plus other fascinating facts

June 08, 2010

Today's blog has Tommie fans looking backward and looking forward -- sort of like opposing special teams do when trying to corral St. Thomas kick return wizard Fritz Waldvogel.

Here's a collection of items, some leftover from a successful sports year:

This purple #4 is returning

A third Division III preseason All-America football team has been released, and the Tommies now have a fourth player receiving that distinction.

Junior-to-be Fritz Waldvogel was named to the Consensus Draft Service (CDS) Preseason All-America first team in two positions -- kick returner and punt returner.

Waldvogel, who wears jersey number four, was joined on the 27-player first team by senior center Josh Ostrue. Tommie senior RB Ben Wartman made the second team.

Lindy's Preseason All-America team included Ostrue, Wartman and junior-to-be Chad Vandergriff, at offensive tackle. The Sporting News also honored Ostrue and Wartman on its eite team.

St. Thomas is the only Division III program thus far to have four different players named preseason All-America. The Tommies had three underclassmen All-Americans in 2009 in a record-breaking 11-2 season that ended with an NCAA quarterfinal playoff loss at Linfield (Ore.).

There were 54 players listed by the CDS, which is in its seventh season of releasing a preseason All-America team. One other MIAC player was cited -- Augsburg tight end Josh Pronschinske made second team. Click here to view the CDS honor team: http://cdsdraft.com/aa.php?team=Division%20III

Waldvogel was the 2009 MIAC Most Valuable Player -- the first sophomore recipient of the award which was first presented in 1995. He had 2,321 all-purpose yards in all 13 games to rank eighth in Division III per-game average, including 85 catches for 1,149 yards and 13 TDs.

In just 23 career games, the 5-foot-9, 165-pounder has 18 touchdowns, 137 receptions for 1,819 yards, and 3,298 all-purpose yards. That includes 22 gains of 38 or more yards on receptions, rushes and returns. His 86 catches for 1,149 yards finished one catch and 43 yards shy of tying P.J. Theisen's 2007 school records for season receptions and reception yards.

In 2009 alone, Waldvogel led all NCAA players in kick/punt return touchdowns with six, and had eight kick returns of 50 or more yards. He also ranked second in Division III in kick-return average at 33.0 ypr; tied an NCAA record with two punt returns for TDs in one quarter; had a rare back-to-back performance where he returned the game's opening kickoff for a TD on Oct. 24 and 31; had a punt-return TD and a kick- return TD in the same half against Northwestern; had a 59-yard kickoff return against St. John's; and had a 71-yard kick return in the NCAA playoff win over Monmouth.

The Tommies open their 2010 season Sept. 4 at St. Norbert and  play their home opener Sept. 11 against UW-River Falls. UST coach Glenn Caruso is 18-5 in his first two seasons. He graduated his starting punter and placekicker but returns full or part-time starters at 20 of 22 spots on offense and defense, along with his top return men and his kickoff specialist. More than 70 lettermen are expected to return. Several transfers and 50 invited freshmen lead the newcomers.

The Tommies’ 70 touchdowns in 2009 ranked third most in D-III, behind Mount Union and UW-Whitewater. UST also broke school season records for rushing yards (3,238), total offense (5,556 yards), and points (506).

Top 10 talent

Recent Tommie graduate Alison Wright finished seventh on the Division III softball career hits list with 266 in 186 games. Wright shattered the conference record of 239 hits and then moved past Jake Mauer's MIAC baseball career record of 243 hits.

A three-time All-American and two-time Academic All-American, Wright will be profiled on the July edition of the national college TV show "NCAA on Campus." A film crew recently came to campus to interview Wright, her twin sister Lauren, Coach John Tschida and UST assistant professor Michael DeVaughn. The segment will air in July on the ESPN U channel and also will be available on the internet.

Monster May stats

Recent Tommie baseball graduate Matt Schuld leaves with an impressive resume -- an NCAA champion ring, two-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American, National and MIAC Pitcher of the Year, three-time National Pitcher of the Week and MIAC leader in career victories.

Schuld's 30-5 career record includes this stat when games meant the most -- he finished 11-1 in career games in the month of May, against virtually all elite teams.

The 11-1 mark doesn't include a no decision in the 2009 NCAA playoffs against UW-Stevens Point when he pitched a school-record 12 innings in an eventual 17-inning victory. Schuld's lone loss in May was in the 2008 NCAA playoffs when he pitched into the 10th inning against UW-Whitewater in a game tied 1-1 through nine innings. That Whitewater team went on to win the regional and take third in the nation.

PHOTO: Matt Schuld (left) gets congrats after his complete-game win over Wooster in 2009 to force a remaytch for the NCAA title. (Mike Ekern photo)

Not bad for a rookie

It's difficult for an MIAC head coach to guide a team to both a regular-season championship and a playoff title in the same season. Our conference now has postseason team playoffs in 11 sports, and at least half of the time, the top-seed in the playoff gets upset.

It's even more rare for a rookie head coach to guide a team to both championships in one season. In fact, UST's interim baseball coach Chris Olean became the first MIAC rookie coach since 2000 to accomplish the double. His Tommies went 15-5 to win the regular-season title by one game, took a one-run loss to start the double-elimination playoffs, then won four elimination games for the crown.

Bethel volleyball coach Gretchen Hunt also led the Royals to the rare sweep in her first season in fall 2000.

In 2009-2010, five of 11 MIAC teams swept the regular-season and playoff championships -- Gustavus women's tennis and women's hockey, St. Ben's volleyball (co-champs with UST in regular season), and Tommie baseball and softball.

In the last 10 years, in all sports with a team playoff format, just 54 MIAC teams have swept both titles in one season. St. Thomas teams have swept 21 times, while Gustavus has accomplished it 19 times.

At UST, John Tschida has done is six times in softball; Steve Fritz has done it five times in men's hoops; and Dennis Denning did it four times in baseball.

Help for Haiti

St. Thomas football was among at least 70 Division III schools/sports teams to collect money to Haiti relief. The NCAA reports that more than $100,000 alone was raised by specific Division III sports-led collections. Tommie football players had coin jars on campus shortly after the disaster and in just four days raised more than $1,400.

Click here for an NCAA news release:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/media+and+events/press+room/news+release+archive/2010/announcements/division+iii+student+athletes+exceed+%24100%2C000+goal+to+assist+relief+efforts+in+haiti

Kiln Karma?

Under Coach Caruso, Tommie football has expanded its recruiting net into Chicago and deeper into Wisconsin, and has yielded success in Florida.

A recent prospect form even came in from a high school in Mississippi.

Kiln, Miss., to be exact. Yep, the hometown of Brett Favre.

Not sure if the kid can play, but if ever becomes a Tommie he'll have to wait two more years until Waldvogel graduates to get a shot at jersey No. 4