http://www.miac-online.org/custompages/softball/softball2010/ust.htm

The Toms fell 5-4 in eight innings to No. 20-ranked Central (Iowa). They bwere two outs away from a victory but lost to Willamette (Ore.) 2-1 on two solo homers in the final inning.

UST's 2-4 start to the season includes three one-run losses and a 1-3 record vs. nationally-ranked teams. The Toms led or were tied in the final inning of all four losses.

In the Central defeat, St. Thomas started the top of the eighth inning with a runner on second and loaded the bases with none out but couldn't get home a run. Central started its at bat with a runner on second and eventually scored the game winner on an error.

UST also left the bases loaded in the fifth and had 12 runners left on base.

In the Willamette loss, Sydney Marquardt's solo homer with two out in the sixth inning broke a 0-0 tie. Starter Christy Gries had a seven-hit shutout through six innings but gave up two solo homers in the top of the seventh. It its final at bat, UST had runners on first and secoond with one out but hit into a game-ending double play on a line drive to third base.

The Toms will play in 12 days at the Sun West Tournament in Orange, Calif.

Click here for UST-Central box:

http://ftp.nfca.org/d3loc10/10lc3-62.htm

Click here for UST-Willamette box score:

http://ftp.nfca.org/d3loc10/10lc3-71.htm

Saturday's Games

Alison Wright's walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the St. Thomas softball team to a 3-2 victory over No. 23-ranked Alma (Mich.) Saturday night in the Silver Bracket quarterfinals at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Marta Radcliffe pitched 5 2-3 innings of shutout relief to take the victory.

The international rule was used in the eighth inning and each team started its at-bat with a runner placed on second base. In the top of the inning, Alma (9-4) loaded the bases with one out but Radcliffe got a strikeout and fly out to end the threat.

In UST's at bat, Alyssa Dunrud was put on second, took third on Erica Wilson's sacrifice bunt and scored on Wright's single to center.

Wright went 2-for-4 and now has 204 career hit, including seven in four tourney games. Sydney Marquardt doubled and scored in the second inning.

UST (2-2) has two more games on Sunday. The Tommies play Central (Iowa) at 9:30 Minnesota time and have a final game at 11:30 a.m.

Click here for UST-Alma box score:

http://ftp.nfca.org/d3loc10/10lc3-44.htm

UST 10, Denison 2

St. Thomas pounded 15 hits en route to Saturday morning's 10-2 victory over Denison (Ohio) at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Panama City Beach, Fla.

The Toms (1-2) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit. Meghan Noskowiak had a two-run homer among her three hits. Alison Wright went 3-for-4 and now has 202 career hits. Christy Gries scattered 10 hits to get the pitching win.

The Toms will play three games in the Silver Bracket strarting Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Minnesota time against No. 23-ranked Alma (Mich.), which is 9-3.

Click here for UST-Denison box:

http://ftp.nfca.org/d3loc10/10lc3-36.htm

St. Thomas graduated eight seniors from last spring's 40-6 team that was MIAC runner-up, conference tournament champion, and an NCAA playoff qualifier.

In his 15 seasons as a college head coach, Tschida has won three national championships and is the winningest Division III coach, active or retired, (winning percentage, .854) with a 573-98 record.

Among Tschida’s key losses was 2009 All-American OF Missy Bruggemann (184 hits in 185 career games); 2008 All-American 2B Kaitlyn Wightman (last three seasons in 135 games had 167 hits, 145 runs, 84 RBI); catcher Steph Moores (14 HRs, 112 RBI, 151 hits in 159 career games); and shortstop Morgan Betker (21 HRs, 112 RBI, 34 doubles, 153 hits in 154 career games).

Leading the UST returners are two seniors -- two-time first-team All-American OF Alison Wright and senior pitcher Marta Radcliffe.

Wright is on pace to become the conference career hits leader as she needs 43 to pass ex-Tommie Michelle Wong. She had a 34-game hitting streak -- the third longest in D-III history -- from April 2008-April 2009. That included hits in her first 23 games of 2009. In all 46 games she had 76 hits, 49 runs, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 59 RBI, 10 walks and 13 steals. The 76 hits were four shy of the MIAC season record set in 2006 by UST's Carrie Embree.

On her three-year career, Wright has helped UST post a 124-15 record (73-2 vs. conference teams). She's batting .465 on her career with 197 hits, 119 runs, 126 RBI, 23 homers, 44 doubles and two triples in 136 games. Wright has 65 career multi-hit games. Her 23 career homers rank sixth in MIAC history. She was named MVP of the April 30-May 1 conference tournament.

Radcliffe, 42-9 on her career, was named the 2009 MIAC Pitcher of the Year. She went 22-6 last season with 173 strikeouts In 160 innings and a 1.80 era. Radcliffe held opposing batters to an average of .150, second best in the conference.

PHOTO: Marta Radcliffe (Greg Smith photo)

Two other sophomores add pitching depth – Christy Gries was 8-0 with a 1.88 ERA, and Angela Phillips was 9-0 with a 0.26 ERA.

Junior 2B Sydney Marquardt started 20 games last season and hit .362 with 25 hits and 18 RBI. Sophomore Becky Eischens started 37 games in the outfield and batted .279 with 19 hits and 12 runs.

UST’s prime task is to find replacements at the key defensive positions of catcher, shortstop and third base.

The Tommies will play four-six games this weekend in Panama City Beach, Fla., in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The field includes eight ranked teams, including squads ranked Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 10, and also includes the NCAA champion programs from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. UST faces No. 20-ranked Central and No. 16-rated Christopher Newport on Friday and plays Denison on Saturday.

Click here for schedule: http://www.nfca.org/pagebank/?id=1468

UST also has 12 games on spring break at the Sun West Tourney in Orange, Calif. It’s scheduled to start conference play April 6 at Carleton and play its first home games April 8 vs. Augsburg.

• Best batting average in the nation, 2009:  .395
• Average of over 40 home runs per season--more than any other DIII team in the past 10 years
• Average of nearly 114 stolen bases per season
• Average of giving up only 7 stolen bases per season
• 2 National Catcher of the Year Awards in the past 9 seasons
• 2 1st-Team All-American Awards in the past 9 seasons
• All-Region awards in 7 of 9 past seasons
• All-Conference awards every year in the past 9 seasons
• 2005 Division III All-Century Team (Nikki Conway, Catcher)

Come join the Tommie’s as they share some of the “secrets” to maximizing your potential!

Clinic Information

HITTING - Grades 7-12:
This is a four-day on-going clinic designed to work on something new each session and to improve upon last sessions lessons.  Signing up for a session means getting all 4 dates as part of the $125 fee.

CATCHING - Grades 7-12:
There is a separate clinic for catchers coexisting with the hitter’s clinic.
This is a four-day on-going clinic just as in the hitter’s clinics.

Dates

Sunday, November 22nd
Sunday, December 6
Sunday, January 3
Sunday, January 31

Times

Hitting Session 1:  2:30-4:30
Hitting Session 2:  5:00-7:00
Catching Session 1:  5:00-7:00

What to Bring

Hitters:  Bring your own bat and batting gloves.  Some bats will be available.
Catchers:  Bring your own catching gear.

Please label all of your belongings! 

Location

University of St. Thomas’ McCarthy Gym located on the South Campus:

http://www.stthomas.edu/campusmaps/stpaul/stpaul36.htm

Registration

Online registration is available here:  http://frontrush.com/basecamp/stthomas/softball/submissionforms/cform.html

Due to construction of our new athletic facility, we are unable to offer our pitching clinic this year.  We look forward to resuming them next year in the new Anderson Athletic & Recreation Center.  See the plans for the new fieldhouse here: http://www.stthomas.edu/openingdoors/studentCenter/animation.html

I hope to see you at the clinics!

Coach John Tschida

The scrimmage, which wraps up fall practice sessions, will start at 1 p.m., and it's open to the public, with no admission charge.

Softball parents and families will have a barbeque following the games.

There are three nine-player teams that will play each other in shortened games, with time limits of 1:15 for each of the three games.

St. Thomas graduated eight seniors from last spring's 40-6 team that was MIAC runner-up, conference tournament champion, and an NCAA playoff qualifier. But 17 players returned and are paired with 10 newcomers.

Parking will be available near the field on south campus or in the Anderson parking ramp located here at #35: http://www.stthomas.edu/psps/Parking/stpaul2Dparking.pdf

Did you know that St. Thomas boasts the impressive Wright sisters, who soar in the classroom and in spring sports?

Twin sisters Alison and Lauren Wright, who will be seniors in 2010, hail from Pewaukee, Wis. They each have an impressive 3.92 grade-point average. In sports, they’ve helped their respective Tommie softball and track and field teams win 11-of-12 MIAC regular season/playoff team titles so far in their era.

Lauren Wright, a thrower in track and field, has been on St. Thomas teams that are 6-for-6 in conference team titles so far in her era.

Alison Wright has helped the Tommies win 5-of-6 MIAC championships in the softball regular-season and playoffs with a 73-2 record in her era vs. conference teams. She has 197 career hits (139 games) and needs 43 to pass UST’s Michelle Wong to become the MIAC all-time leader.

A two-time All-American and two-time Academic All-American, Alison represented softball as the College Division nominee on the 2008-09 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year competition. Wright was the only non-senior among the 12 College Division nominees. (In 2007-08, St. Thomas’ Maria Bye was the softball nominee in the College Division.)

Oregon distance runner Galen Rupp (University Division) and Mount Union QB Greg Micheli (College Division) were selected as the Academic All-Americas of the Year. The award, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), had 12 nominees from the University Division and 12 from the College Division (D-II, D-III and NAIA).

Click here for complete story:

http://www.cosida.com/documents/2009/7/7/2008-09AcademicAAoftheYear.pdf

MIAC title hauls

The Wright sisters’ link to 11 MIAC team titles thus far still falls short of some other St. Thomas athletic families, including:

--P.J., Katie and Becky Theisen have been a part of 19 of a possible 26 MIAC championship teams in track and field, CC and women’s basketball and football.

--Lonnie Robinson (pictured at right) was a part of 15 of a possible 16 MIAC title teams (regular season and postseason) in baseball and basketball.

--Led by Steve Dolan’s 8-for-8 MIAC title run in his track and field career from 1989-1992, the multi-generational Dolan family contributed to more than 15 conference team titles in baseball, football and track and field.

--The four Paullino sisters ran on nearly one dozen different MIAC title teams in track and field, including Anita’s 8-for-8 run in indoor and outdoor track.

--Hall of Famers Jenny and Sarah Hintz also were a part of nearly a dozen MIAC champion teams in CC and outdoor track.

--Steve Aronson played on 10 conference title teams in baseball and hockey (Thanksgiving, regular season and playoffs).

--Neal Guggemos was 6-for-6 in MIAC championships in his four-year era in track and field (1983-86) and also played on a conference champ football team.

--Although he was a two-time All-American in football and a NCAA champ in the shot put, Mark Dienhart was only part of one MIAC champion team as an undergrad. But in his six-year coaching career, he guided Tommie teams to one MIAC football crown, and in track and field coached eight conference title teams and four top-three NCAA teams.

--In men’s basketball, Steve Fritz (shown at right) was a part of two MIAC champion teams as a player, three as an assistant coach, and has guided 14 regular-season and nine MIAC playoff titles thus far in 29 years as a head coach.

--Former track and field coach Joe Thompson guided the Tommies to a 16-for-16 run in MIAC team titles (8-of-8 indoors, 8-of-8 outdoors) in his eight years at UST. In four seasons as head coach at UW-LaCrosse, Thompson’s Eagles went 8-for-8 in Wisconsin conference meets (4-for-4 indoors and 4-for-4 outdoors).

--Joe Sweeney was a part of just one MIAC title in his cross country and track undergrad days but has guided St. Thomas women’s CC and track teams to 63 of a possible 81 conference crowns.

Trick or treat?

In 2009, for just the seventh time in the last 50 years, Halloween will fall on a Saturday. And this Oct. 31 will be one of the busiest days of the St. Thomas fall-winter season, with nine Tommie teams in action.

Halloween Saturday 2009 will include the MIAC cross country championships at St. Paul’s Como Golf Course; Augsburg at St. Thomas in football; St. Thomas at Augsburg in volleyball; St. Mary’s at St. Thomas in men’s soccer; UST at St. Mary’s in women’s soccer; a men’s and women’s swimming meet; and a UST home women’s hockey game against UW-Stevens Point.

The last time Oct. 31 fell on a Saturday was 1998, and it produced one of the best Tommie home football games in memory. Playing their first overtime game in school history, UST won a wild game that had many momentum swings with a 29-28, two-overtime decision over Augsburg.

The Auggies rallied from a 21-3 deficit and were on the verge of winning on the O'Shaughnessy field for the first time since 1970. But their All-American kicker missed a game-winning field goal to end the first overtime and keep the Toms alive.

Trailing 28-21 in the second overtime, St. Thomas completed a third-down pass for a touchdown to pull within 28-27. UST decided against a tying PAT kick. Greg Kaiser, celebrating his 21st birthday, completed a two-point pass to Chris Chappuis to pull out the thrilling victory. Ironically, Chappuis' brother, Matt, was a freshman defensive tackle for the Auggies and had four tackles on the day.

The game also featured an 80-yard TD run by Brad Grossman on the first play from scrimmage; an NCAA record-tying 99-yard TD pass from Kaiser to Mark Warder; and a 15-catch, 252-yard receiving effort by NCAA record-breaker Scott Hvistendahl of the Auggies.

On Halloween Saturday 1987, UST made conference history as it clinched four MIAC team championships in one day.

The women's soccer team, in a 1 p.m. home game, edged Macalester 1-0 and claimed its first MIAC title with a 9-0-1 finish. At St. Olaf that afternoon, the Tommie women won their seventh consecutive conference CC title with 40 points, 12 better than the host Oles. Shari Sullivan led a parade of four UST runners in the top five and six in the top 13. Also in Northfield, the Tommie men won their fourth consecutive MIAC championship with 38 points, 15 better than runner-up St. John's. John Bielinski was second, and the Tommies put six runners in the top 14. Later that night under the lights at O'Shaughnessy Stadium, the men's soccer team hosted St. John's in battle of 8-0-1 teams each looking to win the MIAC title. After a scoreless first half, Paul Wild scored two goals and Tom McCarr added a clincher as the Tommies completed a 3-0 shutout and claimed their second conference title in three seasons.

2009 football talk

There was talk about moving back the Sept. 5 season-opening St. Thomas at Macalester football game to a 7 p.m. start. UPDATE: The game will now start at 2 p.m. on the Scots’ -- a new-student orientation session scheduled at Macalester for that night nixed the evening kickoff.

All 10 Tommie regular-season games for 2009 will start at 1 p.m. St. Thomas’ last night football game was at UW-Stout in Sept. 2003.

The Sept. 2009 debut of TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota is expected to create a buzz around Gopher football. Coincidentally, all five 2009 Tommie football home games occur on the same day as a Gopher home game, and the schools share the same Homecoming weekend.

The U of M kickoff times have only been set for seven of its 12 games due to potential TV assignments, but here’s a look at both teams’ 2009 schedule:

--Sept. 5: Toms at Mac (1 p.m.); Gophers at Syracuse (11 a.m.)

--Sept. 12: Toms have bye; Gophers open TCF Stadium vs. Air Force (6 p.m.)

--Sept. 19: Toms host St. Olaf (1 p.m.); Gophers host California (11 a.m.)

--Sept. 26: Toms at Hamline (1 p.m.); Gophers at Northwestern (1 p.m.);

--Oct. 3: Toms host Gustavus (1 p.m.); Gophers host Wisconsin (TBA)

--Oct. 10: Toms host Concordia (Homecoming, 1 p.m.); Gophers host Purdue (Homecoming, 11 a.m.)

--Oct. 17: Toms at St. John’s (1 p.m.); Gophers at Penn State (2:30 p.m.);

--Oct. 24: Toms at Carleton (1 p.m.); Gophers at Ohio State (11 a.m.)

--Oct. 31: Toms host Augsburg (1 p.m.); Gophers host Michigan State (7 p.m.)

--Nov. 7: Toms at Bethel (1 p.m.); Gophers host Illinois (TBA)

--Nov. 14: Toms host Northwestern (1 p.m.); Gophers host South Dakota State (TBA)

Minnesota closes its regular season Nov. 21 in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes (kickoff time TBA).

The Gophers playing a night football game, on campus, on Halloween? That could be one scary tailgate party, indeed.

With Michigan State as the opponent, I pity the guy at the TCF Bank Stadium pass gate. Imagine how many clowns will show up in a Will Farrell costume and claim they’re “Spartan cheerleaders” ready for the perfect cheer?

The Tommies' 702 points were their most ever in the 14-year history of the format. UST has placed in the top 40 in Division III every year of the competition, including six top-16 finishes. St. Thomas finished 12th in 2007-08.

The final scoring was announced by the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors (NACDA). The prestigious competition is sponsored by NACDA, Learfield Communications, and USA TODAY, and seeks to recognize the top overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.

Williams (Mass.) took first for the 13th time in 14 seasons with 1,066.5 points. Middlebury (Vt.) had 923, Amherst (Mass.) had 910, Washington (Mo.) scored 873 and Cortland (N.Y.) State tallied 861 to round out the top five. 

Fivr other MIAC institutions finished in the top 80 -- Gustavus placed eighth with 765.0; Carleton took 35th with 377.0; St. John's placed 62nd with 260.5; Bethel was 79th with 220.5; and St. Olaf was 85th with 212.

Nine of the top 17 Division III finishers hail from UST’s region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.

Click here to access final 2009 Division III scoring:

http://www.nacda.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/D3June19

Below, Mike Ekern action photos

UST scores in 13

The Tommies scored in 13 of 22 sports, led by top-five national team finishes in baseball (first), men’s outdoor track and field (third), and men’s basketball (tied for fifth). UST also had top-20 team finishes in women’s cross country (14th), women’s indoor track (12th), men’s indoor track (15th) and women’s golf (17th).

Baseball’s national championship is the second for the program and UST’s fourth team title this decade. The Tommies also won NCAA titles in baseball (2001) and softball (2004, 2005).

St. Thomas now has 24 top-two national team finishes in eight different sports. UST’s 13 national team championships include seven in women’s and men’s cross country; two each in baseball and softball; and one each in women’s basketball and men’s indoor track and field.

In Division III national polls released during 2008-09, St. Thomas had seven teams ranked in the top six at some point -- baseball, men’s basketball, softball, men’s hockey, women's golf, volleyball and men’s track and field. The Tommie women were also ranked in the top 15 in hockey and cross country.

--St. Thomas had six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans --  Volleyball’s Katie McCaffrey, Softball’s Alison Wright, Baseball’s Matt Schuld, Men's Track and Field's Phil Bastron, and Women's Track/CC's Katie Theisen and Nikki Arola. UST has received this coveted Academic All-American honor 62 times, including 44 honorees from 12 different sports in the last 11 years.

--Katie Theisen was named the female MIAC Student-Athlete of the Year by College Sporting News and will represent the MIAC in the NCAA Woman of the Year competition. Theisen and McCaffrey received NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

--St. Thomas had 29 student-athletes honored as All-Americans in their respective sports, including 15 underclassmen.

--St. Thomas won NCAA championships in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in outdoor track and field -- the Tommies' 55th and 56th individual/relay national titles. Pat Jager became the first Division III male runner to anchor both the 4x100 and 4x400 to NCAA victories in the same competition. UST became the first men’s team from a Minnesota institution to win a track and field relay at nationals.

--The UST track field has had either a men's or women's relay team advance to the Saturday finals at outdoor nationals for 28 consecutive seasons.

--UST also received NCAA runner-up finishes in track and field from Katie Theisen (steeplechase) and the women’s distance medley relay indoors; and in swimming and diving with Pete Mullee (200 backstroke).

--Region Athletes of the Year honors went to Brian Sames (indoor track and field) and James Ewer (Outdoor Track and field).

Conference highlights

--For the 10th year in a row, St. Thomas collected more MIAC team championships than its conference peers. The Tommies won of nine of 22 regular-season championships and claimed three of 11 playoff titles in 2008-09. UST swept the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles in volleyball and men’s basketball.

--The MIAC single-season record for regular-season team championships is 12 set by St. Thomas in 1990-91. (The Toms also won 11 in 1991-92, 1999-2000 and 2007-08).

--St. Thomas has impressive current title streaks in six sports -– it has won all 25 indoor track championships contested; seven consecutive MIAC baseball titles; four consecutive MIAC men's basketball titles; 10 consecutive MIAC indoor and five MIAC outdoor titles in a row in women’s track and field; and three women’s cross country titles in a row. UST has won six of the last seven conference softball titles, and won five of the last seven MIAC volleyball crowns.

--The nine MIAC titles won in 2008-09 include UST’s third consecutive “triple-crown” sweep in women's cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. That triple crown has only accomplished six times in MIAC women's history (all by St. Thomas). Coach Joe Sweeney now has won a remarkable 63 of a possible 81 conference championships in those three sports -- the most women's titles of any current NCAA Division III coach.

--St. Thomas also had top-three conference team finishes in 18 of 22 sports. MIAC runner-up finishes were posted in men's and women's hockey, football, softball and women’s golf. Third-place finishes came in men’s and women’s swimming, women’s basketball and men’s cross country. Playoff runner-up placings were recorded in women's hockey and baseball.

--UST was the lone conference institution to qualify for MIAC playoffs in all 11 sports this school year (volleyball, softball, baseball plus men’s and women’s soccer, hockey, tennis and basketball).

--UST has won a conference-best 366 all-time MIAC team championships (334 regular-season, 32 playoff). Gustavus is second with 239. In women's regular-season titles, St. Thomas has now won a conference-best 113. Gustavus has won the next most with 56.

--In the last eight years alone, St. Thomas has won 74 MIAC regular-season championships and has qualified for MIAC postseason playoffs a conference-best 63 of a possible 71 times.

--In the 2008-09 MIAC all-sport competition, St. Thomas swept both the men's and women's crowns for the 14th time in the 24 years the format has been in place. UST topped Gustavus by 10 points on the women's side and beat St. Olaf on the men's side by 12.5 points. It's the first time a school swept the men and women by double-digit margins since the 1990-91 Tommies accomplished the feat.

--The UST women have won 18 of the 24 MIAC all-sport competitions held. On the men's side, the Tommies have placed first or second overall 34 of the past 37 seasons. The Tommies won or shared both men's and women's titles 11 consecutive years from 1985-96 and again in 1998 before doing it the last two school years.

--St. Thomas won regional Coach of the Year honors three times -- Steve Mathre in men's indoor and outdoor track and Dennis Denning in baseball. Plus, Tim Springfield was named national Assistant Coach of the Year in men’s track and field.

--The Tommies also received MIAC Coach of the Year honors in five sports -– Sheila McGill was honored in women’s soccer; in swimming, Tom Hodgson received the men's honor and Mark Dusbabek was co-Diving Coach of the Year; Thanh Pham was honored in volleyball; Steve Fritz was honored in men's basketball; and Steve Mathre was recognized in outdoor track.

--MIAC Player of the Year honors went to senior Jackie Carroll in women’s hockey and four juniors – Laura Heck in women’s golf; Joe Scott in men’s basketball; Erin Sprangers in women’s soccer; and Marta Radcliffe in softball (Pitcher of the Year). Special awards for top performances at the MIAC track and field meets went to Joe DeFrance indoors and outdoors; the men's 4x400 relay team of Phil Bastron, Joe DeFrance, Pat Jager, and James Ewer outdoors; Nikki Arola for outdoor women's track and field.

--St. Thomas is the lone institution to qualify for all 16 MIAC baseball and softball playoffs since their creation in 2000. The Tommies have won 13 of those 16 championships to date, including all six held in softball. The Tommies have made the NCAA softball playoffs in 12 of the last 13 seasons with four trips to the College World Series and are 285-19 combined in MIAC play in the last 12 seasons  UST has made the NCAA baseball playoffs 14 of the last 15 seasons with four berths in the College World Series.

--In their combined 24 seasons at St. Thomas, Dennis Denning (baseball) and John Tschida (softball) have won 18 of a possible 24 MIAC team championships, with five seconds and one third place. The two rank first in Division III winning percentage in their respective sports. Denning is 522-157 (.768) in 15 seasons, and Tschida is 573-98 (.854) in 15 seasons, including a 366-53 mark in nine years at St. Thomas.

--Men’s basketball’s 30-1 record set a conference standard for best winning percentage (.968) in one season (minimum 20 games).

St. Thomas' All-Time Directors' Cup Scoring
Year/Place/Points

1996/14th of 402 (388.5 points)
1997/18th of 402 (340.5)
1998/tie 25th of 402 (200)
1999/16th of 387 (240)
2000/4th of 393 (586)

2001/25th of 395 (353.5)
2002/13th of 400 (446.5)
2003/35th of 424 (301)
2004/40th of 424 (296)
2005/24th of 424 (356)

2006/28th of 424 (398)
2007/28th of 424 (431.25)
2008/12th of 424 (592.75)

2009/13th of 424 (702)

Wright is the second consecutive St. Thomas softball player to be named as Academic All-America® of the Year in the College Division. Last year, former teammate Maria Bye earned the award. She's also one of two Division III players named first team All-America and first team Academic All-America.      

A Business and Financial Management major with a 3.91 gpa, Wright was named as a first team All-American outfielder in 2008 and 2009. She ranked among the top hitters in NCAA Division III with a .500 average.        

A native of Pewaukee, Wis., Wright led the Tommies to a 40-6 record and the MIAC playoff championship and was named the playoff Most Valuable Player.

Wright, an All-American as a junior, is on pace to be a four-time All-MIAC honoree and the conference career hits leader. She had a 34-game hitting streak earlier this season -- the third longest in D-III history) -- from April 2008-April 2009. That included hits in her first 23 games this season. In all 46 games she had 76 hits, 49 runs, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 59 RBI, 10 walks and 13 steals. the 76 hits were four shy of the MIAC season record set in 2006 by UST's Carrie Embree.

Wright hit .493 last season with 68 hits, 45 runs, 37 RBI, nine HRs, 17 doubles. On her three-year career, she's helped UST post a 124-15 record (73-2 vs. conference teams). She's batting .465 on her career with 197 hits, 119 runs, 126 RBI, 23 homers, 44 doubles and two triples in 136 games. Wright has 65 career multi-hit games. Her 23 career HRs ranks sixth in MIAC history. She was named MVP of the April 30-May 1 conference tournament.

Wright made her third straight appearance on the All-MIAC team after leading the conference in runs scored with 31 and finishing third in the conference with a batting average of .500. In 22 conference games she notched 36 hits, 21 runs, seven doubles, three homers, 29 RBI and five walks.

In only three seasons, Wright has had 65 multi-hit games. In 2009, she belted 10 home runs and ranked eighth in NCAA Division III with 59 RBI in 46 games. She also scored 49 runs and hit 16 doubles. Her .803 slugging percentage ranked her among the national leaders.

Click here to view complete CoSIDA Academic team: http://www.cosida.com/documents/2009/5/27/2009AAASoftballTeam.pdf

Baseball & Softball Summer Instructional League (PDF) for boys in grades 3-7 and girls in grades 4-8.

High School Girls' Fastpitch Position Player Camp (PDF)

Please contact John Tschida at 651-962-5922 with questions.