Tommie coach Joe Sweeney's 65 conference championships is the most among all Division III women’s coaches.  

Sweeney’s Tommies have won 65 of a possible 84 Minnesota intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) team titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. That includes 16 of a possible 29 won in cross country, 23 of 26 contested in indoor track and 26 of the 29 contested in outdoor track. 

His 65 championships rank second overall among active coaches and third overall in D-III behind men’s coaches Jack Toms of Lynchburg (Va.) and Al Carius of North Central (Ill.).

Toms retired this summer. Carius has retired as track coach and will only coach cross country starting in 2010-2011. The Lynchburg total includes crowns Toms won as both the men’s and women’s head coach.

Sweeney, who starts his 31st season in September, has also guided St. Thomas teams to five national championships and five NCAA runner-up finishes.

Here’s a list compiled by the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps sports information office:

Most Conference Team Championships Won by a Division III Coach:

No.  Coach    School     Yrs at School   Titles Won

81, Jack Toms, Lynchburg (31 seasons 14 MCC, 5 WCC, 24 MITF, 7 WOTF, 24 MOT

79, Al Carius, North Central (Ill.) (44 seasons) 39 MCC, 10 MITF, 30 MOTF

65, Joe Sweeney, St. Thomas (30 seasons) 16 WCC, 23 WITF, 26 WOTF

65, Tom Donnelly, Haverford (Pa.) (35 seasons) 24 MCC, 23 MITF, 18 MOTF

61, Jim Steen, Kenyon (Ohio) (35 seasons), 31 MSwim, 30 WSwim

59, Ted Bulling, Nebraska Wesleyan (26 seasons)

      12 MCC, 9 WCC, 1 WITF, 17 MITF, 20 MOTF

57, John Goldhammer, Claremont (Calif.), 10 MCC, 17 WCC, 19 MTF, 11 WTF

51 John Homan, Mount Union (Ohio) 12 MCC, 20 MITFm 19 MOTF

PHOTOS: Top, Joe Sweeney; below, Steve Mathre

We’re No. 2

In track and field, St. Thomas has won a conference-best 104 MIAC men’s and women’s team titles (indoors and outdoors). It’s believed that only one Division III institution, UW-LaCrosse, has claimed more conference team championships in track than the Tommies.

UST's all-time total includes 26 of a possible 30 men’s championships thus far in the 15-year head coaching era of St. Thomas’ Steve Mathre.

Another Hall of Fame Joe

While researching individuals in the St. Thomas Athletics Hall of Fame, we found some interesting nuggets in the biography of inductee Joe Brandy, who coached four St. Thomas teams during the 1920s.

If you want to win a bet or stump an expert on Tommie trivia, Brandy would make a good subject. Unlike the Looking Glass song that reached No. 1 on the music charts 38 years ago this week, this Brandy was no one-hit wonder.

Brandy was the starting Notre Dame quarterback under legendary coach Knute Rockne for the Irish's unbeaten 1920 team. He played in the same backfield as George Gipp, the subject of the famed “Win one for the Gipper” speech. Brandy also was Notre Dame's captain and starting guard in basketball.

Brandy came to St Paul to coach sports and teach math at St. Thomas. His 33-7-1 record as Tommie football coach from 1921-26 included a 16-game win streak from 1922-24. His .817 winning percentage ranks among the best in Division III lore among coaches who worked at least five seasons.

His 1923 team went 9-0, won the conference title and outscored foes 195-24.

Brandy can claim another feat that has stood up for 85 seasons -- he's believed to be the only individual in MIAC history who has coached teams to conference championships in four different sports.

In one 15-month span, he guided Tommie football, basketball, baseball and hockey teams to MIAC titles.

If you think today's coaches are busy on the weekends, consider that in 1924 Brandy coached both the Tommies and served as head coach of the National Football League’s Minneapolis Mariners.

Brandy left St. Thomas in 1926 and returned to his hometown of Ogdensburg, N.Y. He ran a weekly newspaper and later founded a radio station. He died in 1971 at age 74.

After Brandy, it's believed  that only three individuals have won MIAC team championships in three different sports.

UST's Sweeney and St. Olaf’s Chris Daymont have each won championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

The third one may surprise you –- longtime St. John’s basketball coach Jim Smith has won seven basketball championships but in a span from 1968-1973 he also won five cross country titles and four outdoor track and field crowns.

Smith's Collegeville colleague John Gagliardi came close, He won MIAC team titles in football and track and field, but was unable to win a gold during a brief stint as SJU hockey coach.

Camp talk

Seattle Seahawks General Manager and Tommie alum John Schneider is back in the Twin Cities for Saturday's preseason game with the Vikings. Schneider came back to campus Thursday and accepted an invite from football coach Glenn Caruso to address the Tommie football team.

Schneider has two nephews on this year's UST team -- freshman fullback Willie Schneider, a 2009 Cretin-Derham Hall grad who was a redshirt last season for the Minnesota Gophers; and Wisconsin all-state RB David Ihlenfeldt of Green Bay. His niece, Kaitlin Denis, is a senior co-captain for the Tommie women's soccer team.

Schneider played one season of football with the Tommies  before an injury ended his playing days. Click here for a June 10 Gene's Blog story on his St. Thomas memories and rapid climb in pro football:

http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/news/Blog_JohnS.html

Besides Schneider, Coach Caruso has brought in several prominent Tommie football alumni to talk to the team during training camp, including Mike Ciresi, Mark Dienhart, Dick Gill and Mike McFadden.

Finally...

St. Thomas football received several mentions in the D3Football.com special online puiblication "Kickoff 2010" that was unveiled this week. The website ranks all Division III teams from No. 1 to No. 238, and the Tommies are ranked fifth. Three St. Thomas opponents are ranked in the top 40, including Sept. 4 foe St. Norbert.

Coach Caruso was also quoted in a feature story on teams (like UST) that returned all their starters on the offensive line. He also was quoted and mentioned prominently in a feature story on SJU's Gagliardi. That piece was written for Kickoff by Minnpost.com's Jay Weiner.

In 2009, Kickoff ranked St. Thomas 22nd in its preseason rankings and was correct in predicting a breakthough season.

To order "Kickoff," it's $10 (or $6 if you have an ".edu" e-mail address). Click here for more information:

http://www.d3football.com/kickoff/

Coach Joe Sweeeny's Tommies had a 3.37 grade-point average for 2009-2010 school year. That put them among the top 50 Division III squads in gpas.

St. Thomas also had eight individuals honored (a cumulative gpa of 3.30 or higher, plus an NCAA provisional or automatic time/mark in 2010). Those honorees were All-Americans Nikki Arola, Kyley Crotty, Molly Demmer, Taylor Berg, Erin Sprangers and Becky Theisen, plus Felisha Willaert and Allie Metzler.

The MIAC led all conferences with 11 teams and 48 individual honorees.

The Tommies swept the team crowns at the MIAC indoor and outdoor meets. They also had a CoSIDA Acadenic All-American and NCAA Postgraduate Scholar (Arola); won the NCAA distance medley relay at the Indoor Championships; and placed 13th at the NCAA outdoor meet.

The elite award provides $7,500 for graduate school studies to the winners.

One other MIAC student-athlete also received the award this spring -- St. Olaf's John Schantzen (track and field) was among 29 male honorees.

Just one other NCAA institution had more than one female spring honoree -- Tennessee, with three.

Nikki Arola

Arola, a five-time All-American, was a repeat honoree on the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Women's Track and Field/CC Academic All-America College Division honor team and laned one of 15 first-team spots. A native of Chisholm, Minn., Arola was a Psychology major and graduated with a 3.97 grade-point average.

Last March, Arola ran the 400-meter leg on UST's NCAA champion distance medley relay at the 2010 Indoor Championships. In late May, she anchored the Toms' fifth-place NCAA 2010 Outdoor 4x400 relay unit. She was a three-time NCAA outdoor qualifier in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. Arola also ran the 400 leg on DM relays that won the 2009 Drake Relays and took second in the 2008 and 2009 NCAA indoor meets.

Arola also was a big reason why the Tommies went 8-for-8 in her era in conference team titles. She contributed to on 21 MIAC individual/relay championships on her career. She was the conference Outdoor Meet MVP in 2008 and 2009. She scored 41 points to help the 2009 team win the title, and in the process ran in nine prelim or final races over two days.

Alison Wright

Wright repeated as softball's 2010 College Division Academic All-America® of the Year as the top achiever of the 34 honorees on the ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-America team. The College Division includes players from NCAA Division II and III and NAIA.      

Wright, the MIAC Player of the Year, helped the Tommies to a 21-1 record and the program's sixth MIAC championship in seven seasons. St. Thomas also won the conference playoff then took second out of eight teams in the NCAA regional to complete a 40-8 season.

Wright (SR-Pewaukee, Wis.) graduated with a 3.93 gpa in Business and Financial Management. Despite playing with chronic back pain due to a genetic disorder, Wright was named All-MIAC all four years and was MIAC Rookie of the Year in 2007. She batted ,500 or better in conference games in each of her four varsity seasons. In 2010 she led the MIAC with a .557 batting average in her 22 conference games. Wright was 39-for-70 with 20 RBI, 13 runs, and eight doubles.

Her 266 hits in 186 games shattered the conference record of 239 set by ex-Tommie Michelle Wong (200-2005) and are the seventh most in Division III history.

Wright finished with 87 multi-hit games on her career, and led her team to a 164-23 record in her era. She had a 34-game hitting streak in 2009, and a 20-game hit streak in 2010. In 186 career games, she batted .469 with 266 hits, 147 runs, 155 RBI, 24 HRs, 53 doubles, three triples, 28 walks, 52 SBs, 373 total bases, .972 field%.

Wright is also among two MIAC representatives in the NCAA Woman of the Year awards program for 2010.

Click here to view all spring recipients of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2010/association-wide/postgraduate+scholarship+recipients+announced_07_08_10_ncaanews

Arola, a senior from Chisholm, is a Psychology major with a 3.97 grade-point average. She landed one of 15 first-team spots.

Bethel's Marie Borner, a second-team honoree, was the only other MIAC student athlete among 45 total women's track and field/CC recipients.

The team's average grade-point average is 3.89, including a 3.95 for the 16 voted to the first team.

Last March, Arola ran the 400-meter leg on UST's NCAA champion Distance Medley Relay at the 2010 Indoor Championships. In late May, she anchored the Toms' fifth-place NCAA 2010 Outdoor 4x400 relay unit. She was a three-time NCAA outdoor qualifier  in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. Arola also ran the 400 leg on DM relays that won the 2009 Drake Relays and took second in the 2008 and 2009 NCAA indoor meets.

Arola also was a big reason why the Tommies went 8-for-8 in her era in conference team titles. She contributed to on 21 MIAC individual/relay championships on her career. She was the conference Outdoor Meet MVP in 2008 and 2009. She scored 41 points to help the 2009 team win the title, and in the process ran in nine prelim or final races over two days.

St. Thomas ranked among the national leaders this school year with seven ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans. That included six first-team honorees, as well as five from spring sports of track and field, softball and baseball. The seven honorees are one off the conference record of eight AAAs achieved in 2005-2006.

St. Thomas has won this elite honor 52 times in the last 10 years. That figure ranks among the top 10 of all U.S. colleges and universities during that span.

The award

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program is administered by CoSIDA,  a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The Academic All-America program annually honors more than 1,600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Eligible sports for men's at-large consideration include fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.

---

St. Thomas Academic All-Americans -- 2009-2010 (7)

Women's Track and Field/CC: Nikki Arola, SR (1st team)

Men's Track and Field/CC: Pat Jager, SR (1st team)

Baseball: Matt Schuld, SR (1st team)***

Softball: Alison Wright, SR (1st team)***; Marta Radcliffe, SR (1st team)

Football: Ben Wartman, JR (1st team)

Men's Soccer: Elliot Amundson, JR (3rd team)

--***College Division Academic All-American of the Year

Her UST teammate Erin Sprangers was one of eight athletes named second-team All-District.

Arola was one of three MIAC females to make the first team -- she joined Bethel's Marie Borner and Augsburg's Whitney Holman.

Last March, Arola ran the 400-meter leg on UST's NCAA champion Distance Medley Relay at the 2010 Indoor Championships. Ten days ago, she anchored the Toms' fifth-place NCAA 2010 Outdoor 4x400 relay unit. She was a three-time NCAA outdoor qualifier  in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. Arola also ran the 400 leg on DM relays that won the 2009 Drake Relays and took second in the 2008 and 2009 NCAA indoor meets.

She also was a big reason why the Tommies went 8-for-8 in her era in conference team titles. She contributed to on 21 MIAC individual/relay championships on her career. She was the conference Outdoor Meet MVP in 2008 and 2009. She scored 41 points to help the 2009 team win the title, and in the process ran in nine prelim or final races over two days.

PHOTOS: Above, Nikki Arola; below, Erin Sprangers

Sprangers, a four-time All-American, graduated witha  3.74 gpa in Elementary Education. She ran the 1200-meter leg on UST's NCAA champion Distance Medley Relay at the 2010 Indoor Championships and also ran on the NCAA runner-up relays in 2008 and 2009 plus the Drake Relays champion DM relay in 2009. She placed seventh at 2008 NCAA outdoor in the 800 meters, and still holds the school record of 2:09.8.

In MIAC competition,  the Tommies went 8-for-8 in Sprangers' era in conference team titles. She was a 13-time conference champion in middle-distance races. She also was four-year soccer performer and was Conference Player of Year and All-Region in 2008. She scored 71 points (30 goals) in 64 games and led the Tommies to the 2008 MIAC championship and two NCAA playoff berths.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team is part of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program, administered by CoSIDA,  a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The Academic All-America program annually honors more than 1,600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Eligible sports for men's at-large consideration include fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

Top student-athletes from non-Division I programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ontario and Manitoba are eligible for inclusion on the District V team. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.

Her time of 4:28.55 broke Lisa Koelfgen's 1986 record of 4:29.66 when she won her second consecutive NCAA title.

Earlier in May, Russ ran 2:10.78 in the 800 meters, the second best time in that event in school history.

Russ also ran on the Tommies' fifth-place 4x400 relay on Saturday for two All-America honors on the day. She was a six-time All-American on her career.

Last March, Russ anchored the Toms' winning distance-medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Russ was a part of that same relay team that placed second nationally indoors in 2008 and 2009 and also won the Drake Relays crown in outdoor track in April 2009.

Russ ran on 11 of a possible 12 MIAC title teams in her cross country and track career. This school year, she was a four-time MIAC CC/Track Athlete of the Week. She also ws a four-time All-MIAC finisher in cross country.

Senior Kelly Russ was third in the 1,500 in a career-best 4:28.55 to repeat as an All-American in that race. UST's 4x400 relay placed fifth in 3:48.26 with Molly Demmer, Russ, Becky Theisen and Nikki Arola. It was the first All-America honor for Theisen. It also marked the 28th consecutive season UST had a men's or women' relay in the finals at outdoor nationals.      

The Toms also got eight team points on Thursday with Kylee Crotty's runner-up finish in the javelin.

On the men's side, freshman Eyo Ekpo placed fifth in the triple jump to earn All-America honors Saturday.

Ekpo jumped 48-10 3-4. and was just five inches out of second place. It was the second best triple jump in UST history behind Leonard Jones' 1993 leap of 51-7 3-4.

Mike Hutton also earned All-America honors as he placed sixth in the 800 meters in 1:53.82. Ben Sathre placed 14th out of 17 in the 5,000 in 15:24.98.

The Tommie men closed with seven team points and two All-Americans.

Click here for complete results:

http://raceberryjam.com/2010/ncoutmenevt.html

Friday's story

Mike Hutton advanced to Saturday's finals in the 800, but an injury ending the season of teammate Pat Jager in day two of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Berea, Ohio.

On the women's side Erin Sprangers missed qualifying for the finals in the 800 and Nikki Arola missed the finals in the 400 as she clocked 56.28.

Jager was running well in his prelim heat of the 400 meters until his foot gave way.

"Pat Jager on his way to perhaps his best performance in the 400 but appears to have broken his foot with about 80 meters to go in the race," said UST coach Steve Mathre. " He continued to finish but lost his ability to push and hold his speed.  Perhpas a similar issue as he had in the past with his other foot.  He knew the sensation immediately.  Trainers and doctors suspect a hairline fracture on the top of his left foot. "

Crotty earned her first All-America honor as she scored eight team points and threw a career-best and school-record 150-0. She was beaten by just four inches on the final throw of the day by Amanda Trieloff of Concordia (Wis.).  

Crotty previously had the school record with a 145-7 toss, which was fifth best in Division III on the regular season.   

St. Thomas' women's 4x400 relay advanced to the finals -- the 28th consecutive season the Tommies have had either a men's or women's relay in the NCAA outdoor finals. Molly Demmer, Kelly Russ, Becky Theisen and Nikki Arola clocked 3:48.94 to make Saturday's eight-team finals. Theisen improved her 400-meter split by two seconds, and Arola had a sub 55-second split on the anchor leg.       

Russ also advanced to the 12-woman finals in the 1,500 as she ran 4:34.02 in the prelims.  

The Tommie women were unable to advance in the 4x100 relay. Laura Janas, Arola, Demmer and Jenna Ewing clocked 48.02.  

The Tommie men had a tough day going 0-for-3 in the prelims. The Toms' 4x100 relay was unable to advance. Matt Griswold, Sam Moen, Joe Rohlfing and Patrick Jager clocked 41.66. In the 400 hurdles, Griswold clocked 53.95 and Rohlfing was interfered with and ran 56.61.

Joe Rohlfing was knocked to the ground by a runner falling into his lane after the eighth hurdle in prelims – he got up and finished the race," said UST men's coach Steve Mathre. "I filed an interference protest that the committee agreed with. They created an opportunity to earn his way into the finals -- a do over -- by having him run a second race today by himself, at 8:20 p.m. He was tired and alone on the track for his re-run. He did not advance, but it was a very gutsy performance that received a lot of support from the crowd."     

The meet continues Friday and concludes Saturday.

The three-day meet starts Thursday, hosted by Balldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Tommie senior Kylee Crotty, who will compete in her first national meet, is seeded fifth in the javelin (145-7). 

Senior All-American Nikki Arola will compete in three events. She's seeded fifth in the 400 meters (55.98)and will run on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. 

Senior All-American Erin Sprangers is seeded 10th in the 800 (2:11.75). Fellow senior All-American Kelly Russ is seeded 18th in the 1,500 (4:33.24). Arola, Sprangers, Russ and junior Becky Theisen are seeded ninth in the 4x400 in 3:51.41.

Arola will also run on the 11th-seed 4x100 relay, with Molly Demmer, Jenna Ewing and Laura Janas. Their season best is 47.90.

St. Thomas tied for 19th at the 2010 NCAA indoor meet as it won the distance medley relay with Sprangers, Arola, Taylor Berg and Russ.

Click here for official meet webpage:

http://www.bw.edu/athletics/10tracknationals/

Last weekend in Winona, Sweeney captured his 65th MIAC women's team title in cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field as St. Thomas scored 168 points to take first place. Sweeney's Tommies won seven events and scored in 19 of 22 events to hold off a strong bid by Gustavus.

The Tommies have won 24 of the last 26 MIAC outdoor team titles. In Sweeney's 30-year career, his teams have won 65 of a possible 84 all-time conference team titles in cross country (16-of-29), indoor track (23-of-26) and outdoor track (26-of-29). 

Balder-Lanoue led the Blazers to a third-place finish with 89 points.

The Tommies will have some athletes competing in last chance qualifying meets today and Friday, and will look to send a contingent to next week's NCAA Championships in Cleveland.