Hall of Fame
Debra Krengel graduated from the College of St. Catherine in 1980 after a busy and successful three-sport career. As a rookie, Krengel was a member of the 1976 varsity volleyball team that won the first St. Catherine varsity sports championship by clinching the Minnesota Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW) title and remaining undefeated in that tournament. St. Catherine finished that season at the first annual Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championships with a 50-5 record, going on a 32-game winning streak to earn a state and regional title and a No. 6 national ranking.Â
Â
However, Krengel did not rest on that volleyball title as she transitioned immediately to the basketball court and again helped her team to win its first MAIAW state title in 1977 knocking off large university teams like the University of Minnesota-Duluth and Bemidji State on route to the regional tournament. Krengel was always a team leader on the court and dominated the boards. Although there are few statistical records, her former basketball coach touts her strong defensive play and notes that she was always assigned to the toughest player on the opponent’s roster, which lead to the team’s successes.
Â
Aside from being a three-time MAIAW champion in the sports of volleyball and basketball, Krengel was also a member of the track & field team. Some of her greatest individual success came in the javelin throw where she holds the pre-1992 program record with a mark of 43.59m occurring during the1979 season. Krengel also held two of the program’s top-ten marks her sophomore season with a mark of 11.02m in the shot put and a mark of 34.16m in the discus throw. Those marks remained on the leaderboard until the 2017 season. Krengel graduated as one of very few athletes that can claim holding three team titles and as an individual record-holder in the javelin. Krengel was inducted into St. Catherine University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of the 1976 Volleyball Team.
