The Official Site of Augsburg University Athletics

MEN'S HONOR ATHLETE TONY VALEK (WRESTLING), Accounting/General Management major, 3.8704 GPA – NCAA Division III National Runner-Up (149 pounds) in 2009-10 and 2010-11, NCAA Division III Third Place (149) in 2011-12, Three-time All-American, Four-time NCAA Division III National Tournament Qualifier, NCAA Great Lakes Regional Champion in 2010 and 2012, NCAA Elite 89 Award recipient in 2011-12, NWCA Scholar All-American in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, Capital One Academic All-America (CoSIDA) first team in 2010-11, Capital One Academic All-District (CoSIDA) first team in 2010-11 … Finished in third place at 149 pounds in 2012 national tournament with 34-1 record … 29 of his 34 victories were bonus-point wins (15 pins, two technical falls, 12 major decisions) … NCAA national runner-up at 149 in both 2011 (37-6 record) and 2010 (33-5 record) … Finished his career with 136-25 record, with 87 bonus-point victories (60 pins, six technical falls, 21 major decisions) … Qualified for NCAA tournament in 2009 at 141 (32-13 record) … 19 pins in 2010-11 season, 12 pins in 2009-10, 14 pins in 2008-09 … Earned Capital One Academic All-America (CoSIDA) first-team at-large honors in 2010-11, becoming eighth Auggie in school history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America first-team honors and 23rd Auggie Academic All-American in school history … Named to NCAA Elite 89 Award honors in 2011-12, honoring student-athlete with highest cumulative GPA competing at NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships.

WOMEN'S HONOR ATHLETE KYLEE PERSING (SOFTBALL), Biology/Chemistry major, 3.7895 GPA – MIAC Athlete of the Week twice in 2011, Academic All-MIAC in 2010 and 2011 … Pitcher/infielder … Augsburg’s No. 1 pitcher last two seasons, with 12-8 record, 3.34 earned-run average and 57 strikeouts in 2011 … Through March 27 games this season, has 5-5 record with 7.58 ERA and 33 strikeouts … In career (through March 27 games), has appeared in 69 games as a pitcher, with 28-18 record, 5.22 ERA, 157 strikeouts and .297 opponent batting average with three shutouts and two saves … In 121 career games (114 starts), has .281 career batting average (88-of-313), with 59 runs scored, 15 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 56 RBI, .431 slugging percentage, .347 on-base percentage and 15 stolen bases in 19 attempts … Currently second in school history in career home runs (10) and tied for 10th in career RBI (56) … This season, hitting .333 (18-of-54) with 13 runs, three doubles, one triple, three home runs and nine RBI, with .593 slugging percentage and .390 on-base percentage.

MEN'S OUTSTANDING ATHLETE OF THE YEAR CHAD JOHNSON (WRESTLING) – NCAA D-III National Champion (heavyweight), Great Lakes Regional Champion … Won Division III national championship at heavyweight to earn All-American honors … Also won titles at Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open, MSU Moorhead Dragon Open and Citrus Invitational … Finished the season with a 36-1 record with 25 wins in a row … Lone loss came to DII national runner-up … Recorded 12 pins and eight major decisions on the year.

WOMEN'S OUTSTANDING ATHLETE OF THE YEAR ASHLEY CARNEY (TRACK AND FIELD) – 2012 Indoor Track: All-MIAC (champion, 60m dash), All-MIAC Honorable Mention (6th, 800m relay), NCAA Division III All-American (8th, 60m dash), MIAC Athlete of the Week (Jan. 30, Feb. 29) … 2011 Indoor Track: All-MIAC (champion, 800m relay) … 2011 Outdoor Track: All-MIAC (3rd, 100m dash, champion, 400m relay) … Recorded eighth-place finish in 60-meter finals at NCAA Indoor Championships … Recorded a season-best time of 7.74 seconds at MIAC Indoor Championships … One of six female student-athletes from the MIAC to qualify for the NCAA Championships … Recorded a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash of the MIAC Outdoor Championship meet last spring … Was a member of the 400-meter relay team that finished first in the conference and recorded an NCAA provisional time last spring.

MEN'S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TYLER MAXWELL (FOOTBALL) – All-MIAC, MIAC Athlete of the Week (Sept. 17) … Only first-year player named to All-MIAC first team … Set a single-season school record with 13 rushing touchdowns ... Led the MIAC's overall statistics in rushing yardage per-game (121.3) … Led the conference in points per-game (12.0), with his 14 touchdowns (13 rushing, one receiving) tied for the third-most among conference players … Maxwell's 146.1 all-purpose yards per-game (849 rushing, 174 receiving) was second-best among MIAC players this season … Rushed for 849 yards on 169 carries – the most rushing yardage and carries for an Auggie since 2004 … Maxwell had 100-yard rushing performances in five of his seven games this season and set single-game school records with four touchdowns twice this year.

WOMEN'S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RACHEL HENNESSY (HOCKEY) – All-MIAC, MIAC All-Rookie Team, MIAC Athlete of the Week (Jan. 9) … Led the Auggies with 20 goals and 28 points (20 goals, eight assists), including four game-winning goals, a power-play marker and a shorthanded goal … Goal total is seventh-most in a single season in school history, while points were tied for 13th-most in a single season in school history … Her 20 goals were third among MIAC players in overall statistics and tops among conference rookies, while her 28 points stand seventh among MIAC players … Among Division III players nationally, Hennessy's 0.80 goals per-game ranked eighth-best, while her 20 goals were tied for sixth-most … Her 20 goals are fourth-best among Division III rookies nationally.

MEN'S OUTSTANDING TEAM OF THE YEAR WRESTLING (10-3 in dual meets, NCAA Division III second place, NWCA Division III National Duals second place, NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional champions) – Under fourth-year head coach Mark Matzek, Augsburg finished second at the NCAA Division III national championships, its 22nd top-two national tournament finish (11 national titles, 11 second-place finishes). Augsburg extended its streak of finishing in the top four in NCAA competition to 24 straight years, the longest active top-four streak among any NCAA wrestling program, regardless of division, and the second-longest top-four streak in NCAA wrestling history. Five Auggies earned All-American honors, marking the 24rd straight year that Augsburg has had five or more All-Americans in wrestling competition. Chad Johnson won the national title at heavyweight, Orlando Ponce placed second at 157, Tony Valek (149) and Will Keeter (141) placed third and Brad Baus (197) placed fourth. Augsburg won the NCAA Great Lakes Regional for the 10th straight season and finished second at the NWCA Division III National Duals.

WOMEN'S OUTSTANDING TEAM OF THE YEAR VOLLEYBALL (16-12 overall, 7-4 MIAC—t5th/12, MIAC Playoff Qualifier) -- Under second-year head coach Jane Becker, the Auggies finished the season with a 16-12 overall record, and a fifth-place finish in the MIAC standings. With a young team featuring just one senior, the Auggies qualified for the MIAC postseason playoffs for the second time in the last three years. The Auggies used a mid-season stretch of six victories in a seven-match span to move into playoff contention, then claimed a three-set sweep of St. Olaf to clinch the MIAC postseason playoff berth. Setter Emily McCourt recorded 1,006 assists, a 10.06 assist per-set average and 50 service aces to earn All-MIAC honors. Augsburg had five players with 100 or more kills on the season, led by Colleen Ourada’s 348. Augsburg also had six players with 30-plus blocks this season.

MEN'S MOST IMPROVED TEAM OF THE YEAR FOOTBALL (4-6 overall, 2-6 MIAC—7th/9 in 2010 … 6-4 overall, 4-4 MIAC—t5th/9 in 2011) -- Under seventh-year head coach Frank Haege, Augsburg recorded its 13th above-.500 finish in school history and first since a 6-4 overall (5-4 MIAC) finish in 1999. The Auggies won their first four games to start the season, including a 32-31 win at St. John’s on Sept. 24 – as the Auggies marched 80 yards on four plays in the final 18 seconds of the game. The win was the first for the Auggies at St. John’s since 1980 and the first Auggie win over the Johnnies since 1997. Augsburg also claimed conference wins over Hamline, Carleton and Gustavus. Tight end Adam Carl and defensive lineman Edmond Smith were named to the D3football.com All-West Region squad. Carl and running back Tyler Maxwell were named All-MIAC first team. Earning All-MIAC second-team honors were Smith, quarterback Marcus Brumm, offensive lineman Chad Thompson, linebacker Bryce Vee and defensive back Tyler Phillips. Defensive lineman Aaron Perry was an honorable-mention all-conference honoree. Phillips was named to the squad for the Aztec Bowl all-star game in Mexico, and Haege was a member of the coaching staff there.

WOMEN'S MOST IMPROVED TEAM OF THE YEAR BASKETBALL (5-20 overall, 4-18 MIAC—12th/12 in 2010-11 … 14-11 overall, 11-11 MIAC—7th/12 in 2011-12) -- Augsburg had one of its most successful seasons in school history in 2011-12. With 14 wins, Augsburg matched its 1983-84 campaign (14-11) for the most victories in a single season in the school's varsity women's basketball history (since 1972-73). The 11 MIAC wins also matched the 1983-84 (11-9) and 1984-85 (11-9) seasons for the most conference wins in a single season in Augsburg history. Under first-year head coach Bill McKee, the Auggies' 14 wins this season also equaled the number of Auggie victories in the prior three seasons combined (14-61). The 2011-12 campaign marked the first double-digit win season for Augsburg since 2000-01 (11-13), the seventh double-digit win campaign in the varsity era (since 1972-73), and its first .500-or-above season since 1984-85 (13-11). Senior guard Serenae Levine was named to the All-MIAC squad, while post player Brittany Zins was named All-MIAC Honorable Mention. The Auggies had several milestone wins this season – a 61-50 win at St. Benedict that snapped a 50-game losing streak to the Blazers, and two wins over Concordia-Moorhead, which marked the Auggies’ first-ever season sweep of the Cobbers.

ACADEMIC TEAMS OF THE YEAR MEN'S HOCKEY -- 3.51 TEAM GPA WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING -- 3.44 TEAM GPA

STUDENT-ATHLETES WITH HIGHEST GRADE-POINT AVERAGE (ALL 4.0)

BRANDON BUKOWSKI MEN’S HOCKEY

SANDRA HINZ WOMEN’S HOCKEY

GARY MARISCAL BASEBALL