ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The St. Catherine University athletic department hosted the annual Purple and Gold Awards on Monday afternoon. The yearly celebration honored student-athletes, coaches, and staff members for their contributions to the department this season and recognized the outstanding accomplishments achieved this year.
Highlights of the awards ceremony included the announcement of the Rookie of the Year, the McCahill Athlete of the Year, the Brady Williams Spirit Award, the Sheila Brown Wildcat Award, and the Fleur-de-Lis Award. In addition to the prestigious annual awards, the department recognized both academic and athletic success throughout the event.
The first award of the ceremony was the Brady Williams Spirit Award which is given to a St. Kate's student; faculty, staff, or community member who has shown continued support and spirit to the St. Kate's athletics department. This year the department recognized admissions counselor Michael Larson.
Michael has served as an admissions counselor at St. Kate's for many years.Throughout his time, he has always made an effort to attend athletic events showing his support for our teams. Michael has gone above and beyond to help out the department by coming into the admissions office on a Saturday or a holiday, to walk prospective recruits through the admissions process. He has also jumped to serve as an early morning van chauffeur, making sure that our teams have rides to the airport for their team trips.
Michael has also welcomed teams and alumnae to his home or backyard deck for team meals or bonding activities. The past couple years, he has volunteered with the basketball team but is a staple in the stands, talking with students and cheering for the Wildcats on the sidelines at multiple events during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Michael is never far from St. Kate's athletics. If you can't find him in Derham, then you know he is in Butler or down the softball right field line.
The annual rookie of the year award went to first-year volleyball standout, Tiffany Tellez making her the first Wildcat volleyball player to earn the department's Rookie of the Year honor. First-year Tiffany Tellez appeared in 26 matches in her first season playing 98 sets leading all first-years on the Wildcat volleyball team. Tellez recorded the second-most kills on the team with 211 and was also second in digs with 257. Tellez was named MIAC All-Conference at the end of the 2022 season as one of just two rookies to make the prestigious list. Tiffany Tellez compiled one of the best performances from a first-year in the record books helping the Wildcats to a 18-8 overall season finishing second in conference play and the team's first time to the MIAC playoffs since 2010. Tellez averaged 2.49 points per set, 2.15 kills per set, and 2.62 digs per set, all of which ranked her second on the team. Throughout the season, she had five double-doubles accumulating 244 points and a team best 675 attempts.
Three senior student-athletes earned the Sheila Brown Wildcat Award from softball, soccer, and volleyball. The Sheila Brown Wildcat Award recognizes senior athletes who have made a long-term contribution to the athletic program and who consistently exhibited a combination of athleticism, scholarship, dedication, sportsmanship and leadership.
As the College for Women Class of 2023, Valedictorian,
Julia Azure has proven the definition of division III student-athlete as she is navigating her first-year in the doctorate of physical therapy program and compiled her best season yet on the field. Julia finished the 2023 season with a batting average of .312 getting walked 15 times. She has a slugging percentage of .384 and scored 17 runs this season off of 39 hits that included six doubles. In her four-seasons, Julia played in 119 games with an overall batting average of .306. In 340 at bats, she had 104 hits with 16 doubles, two triples, and one home run. She scored 66 runs in her career while driving in 47 RBI. As the starting catcher for the past four-seasons, Julia had a fielding percentage of .978 making 540 total catches while stopping 40 of the 72 attempted stolen bases in her career. She earned MIAC All-Conference honors in 2022 and honorable mention honors in 2021. She is a two-time MIAC Academic All-Conference, two-time NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete, and a member of Chi Alpha Sigma and was a three-year member of WSAAC. Over the past several seasons, Julia also led several volunteering opportunities for her peers at SafeZone in St. Paul which is a drop-in center serving youth in the community who experience or are at risk of experiencing homelessness.
A four-year starter at center back,
Emily Hinze, played 5086 minutes for the Wildcats appearing in 62 games with two goals and one assist. During her time for the purple and gold, the team has won the MIAC Playoffs in back-to-back seasons along with the program's first-ever regular season championship title in 2021. Hinze is a three-time MIAC Academic All-Conference honoree, has been on the St. Kate's dean's list each semester and is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma. As a team captain, she is also a member of the Wildcat Student-Athlete Advisory Committee where she spent countless hours leading her peers in volunteering initiatives and will graduate in the spring with a degree in nursing before continuing on at St. Kate's in the master of nursing program in the fall of 2023.
Lauren Skar registered her best-career season appearing in 89 sets playing in 26 matches in the fall of 2022. She recorded 136 kills, 28 digs, with 34 blocks and three assists helping the Wildcats reach the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since 2010. In her time at St. Kate's, Lauren played in 227 sets in 70 matches with 294 career kills and 72 blocks. Off the court, the Political Science, Public Policy, and Economics major played a vital role in establishing the Mental Health Awareness club, The Hidden Opponent at St. Kate's and served on the Wildcat Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She was involved in Outdoor Katies for Sustainability, was a St. Kate's civic engagement fellow and justice office intern in the CSJ Administration Center. Lauren was a Minnesota Center for Diversity in Economics mentorship participant and interned with the Ann Bancroft Foundation. Lauren is a two-time MIAC Academic All-Conference selection, a seven-time Dean's List honoree, is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National Honor Society, the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society, and the Omicron Delta Epsilon Economics Honor Society. She was recently awarded the Achievement in Political Science and in Public Policy awards while being inducted into Phi Betta Kappa at the 2022-23 St. Catherine Honors and Awards Ceremony. She is also one of two from the St. Kate's volleyball program to earn College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
The 2022-23 Fleur-de-lis Award was presented to senior hockey student-athlete,
Kaitlyn Blair. A four-year member of the St. Catherine hockey team and captain for the 2022-23 season, Kaitlyn closed out her impressive career by earning the Sheila Brown Award given annually to a senior women's hockey player in the MIAC. The honor is given to a student-athlete who has made a long-term contribution to their team's success, has excelled competitively and displayed good leadership and citizenship. Kaitlyn serves as the president of the Wildcat Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, is a Thomas More Award honoree, Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society Member and a member of Iota Sigma Pi. She is also the coordinator of St. Catherine's Polar Plunge fundraiser that raised more than $20,000 for Special Olympics Minnesota over the past two years. She earned MIAC All-Conference in her junior season and All-MIAC Honorable Mention this past season while appearing in 73 games, scoring 11 goals with 24 assists for a total of 35 points. She will graduate this spring with a degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Psychology.
The St. Catherine department Team GPA Award was granted to the Wildcat softball team with a 3.706 cumulative GPA. In all, there are 20 student-athletes across our sports teams that carry a perfect 4.0 GPA and all student-athletes contribute to the athletic department's 3.5 institutional cumulative GPA with all teams carrying a 3.0 team GPA.
The 2022-23 McCahill Athlete of the Year was given to sophomore golfer,
Kyra Venne, as the best golfer in St. Catherine program history, holding a 74.4 scoring average heading into the NCAA Division III Championships last week. Venne secured the program's first MIAC Individual title earning MIAC Player of the Year which is also another program first. During the 2022-23 season, Venne earned medalist honors in five tournaments and was ranked 16th nationally heading into the postseason. Venne earns the golf program's first ever McCahill Athlete of the Year honor compiling the program's best individual season on record. Kyra's 74.16 stroke average is the lowest in the program's history and the lowest in the MIAC this season. She is the first-ever St. Kate's golfer to earn an individual NCAA bid while also being the first-ever from the program to earn All-America honors. Her five tournament wins were a program best while finishing in the top-six in each tournament this season. She carded two rounds of 70 with five additional rounds at even par or lower. Kyra concluded her historic season at the NCAA Championships with a 36-hole round of 167 (+21) as the third round was canceled due to unplayable course conditions.
The Wildcat Cup was awarded to the St. Catherine swimming and diving and track & field tying for most points earned during the 2022-23 academic year.
