Best Comeback: Softball regional tournament

The St. Thomas softball team claimed the MIAC playoff title this year, so when the women dropped the opening game of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa regional to Augustana (Ill.) 7-1, it may not have come as a surprise that the team came back and rattled off four straight victories to advance to the NCAA Division-III Super Regional in Naperville, Ill.

Following the defeat, the Tommies scored convincing victories over St. Scholastica and Coe College to set up a rematch with Augustana.

After five innings, the score stood at 4-1 in favor of the Vikings, and the Tommies were down to the final six outs of their season. St. Thomas started its rally with two runs in the sixth inning. Center fielder Maria McQuillan drove in a run with a squeeze bunt and second baseman Meg DuPuis added another with a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-3 after six innings.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, shortstop Jenna Hoffman staved off elimination once again with a leadoff home run that tied the score at four and sent the game into extra innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Tommies completed the comeback when right fielder Bianca Peterson drove in DuPuis for the winning run.

After the Tommies defeated Augustana again, they won a three-game series over North Central (Ill.) to advance to the NCAA Division-III Softball Championships in Tyler, Texas. Although the Tommies may not have completed the quest for a National Championship, they proved they shouldn’t be counted out too early.

Best Game: Football vs. Bethel

In an October game in which St. Thomas trailed by two touchdowns heading into the second half, wide receiver Jack Gilliland’s 90-yard kick return touchdown to start the second half made for a competitive final two quarters in Arden Hills.

After Gilliland’s kick-return touchdown, linebacker Harry Pitera forced a Royal fumble, and the Tommies scored five plays later. Running back Jack Kaiser received the ball on five consecutive plays, finishing with a 5-yard touchdown run to tie the game 14-14.

Late in the game, Bethel running back Jesse Phenow completed a two-point conversion after a 2-yard touchdown run by Marshall Klitzke, giving the Royals a 28-21 lead.

Bethel remained in first place in the conference throughout the remainder of the season, while the Tommies failed to receive an NCAA berth.

Best Team Performance: Women’s hockey

January is a dreary month when just a handful of students remain on campus and the Minnesota winter reaches its most frigid temperatures. However, this January made for the St. Thomas women’s hockey team’s hottest streak of the season.

After a pair of disappointing one-goal losses just before the Christmas break, the Tommies returned and went unbeaten in January, a streak highlighted by a 2-1 win on the road against No. 6-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls. The January hot streak ignited the Tommies for the rest of the season, as they won eight of their next 10 games to capture their first MIAC championship in 10 seasons and punched a ticket to the Frozen Four in Plattsburgh, New York.

Coach Tom Palkowski and the Tommies rode team defense and timely scoring to their Frozen Four appearance in front of All-American goaltender Alise Riedel. St. Thomas allowed just 49 goals in 30 games this season, and had nine different players hit double-digits in points, with the team’s leading scorer tally just 20 points. With strong defense and deep scoring, the St. Thomas women’s hockey team used their all-around talent to make one of the most impressive runs by a St. Thomas team this season.

Best Male Athlete: Tyler Peterson, baseball

Through the NCAA playoffs, a regional championship and the Division-III College World Series, the St. Thomas baseball team did it all without MIAC Triple Crown winner and MIAC MVP, Tyler Peterson. The senior first baseman played in 38 games for St. Thomas this season, before suffering a lacerated spleen in the MIAC conference tournament. Peterson hit eight home runs this season and drove in 50 runs, all while leading the MIAC in batting average by 39 points, batting .473.

Not only was the Tommies’ star first baseman an offensive threat, but he was also stellar on defense this season, with no errors in 180 chances while manning first base. Peterson suffered a lacerated spleen after colliding with catcher J.D. Dorgan during the MIAC semifinal game, and his injury kept him out for the remainder of the Tommies’ season. Despite Peterson’s absence, St. Thomas went on to claim the MIAC postseason championship, an NCAA regional title and a third-place finish at the Division-III championships.

Best Female Athlete: Mallory Burnham, track and field

After securing her first two individual All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March, Mallory Burnham competed in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Delaware, Ohio and placed in the top two of all three events she participated in. Burnham won the 100-meter hurdles and lost the 100-meter dash by a mere .003 seconds after a photo finish.

In the NCAA indoor meet, Burnham completed a 7.60 60-meter dash, breaking her own school record, and she clocked a 8.60 in the 60-meter hurdles. She also led the Tommie women’s track team as it tallied its 15th consecutive conference indoor title in March – earning 35 of the team’s 185 points. Burnham was named the conference’s Outstanding Track Athlete for her standout performance.

Coach of the Year: Ruth Sinn, women’s basketball

A 24-win regular season, No. 15 national ranking and the nation’s No. 8-ranked defense may be cause for celebration for some, but for St. Thomas women’s basketball coach Ruth Sinn, regular season success is just a stepping stone for postseason excellence.

A two-time recipient of the MIAC Coach of the Year Award, Sinn guided the Tommies to their fourth MIAC playoff title in five years, highlighted by an impressive run through the conference playoffs that saw them win the last two games on the road. However, this year’s team earned its stripes this season without two key contributors in the lineup for most of the season.

Guard Jenna Dockter and forward Anna Smith both missed most of the season due to injuries and played less than 10 games for the Tommies this winter. Yet, that didn’t slow Sinn and her team down as they battled through adversity and defeated St. Mary’s University in the MIAC championship game 71-58.

The Tommies’ regular season and conference success earned them a bid to the NCAA playoffs where they hosted the first two rounds of the tournament. St. Thomas defeated Loras College 52-49 in the first round in a tense game of runs that saw Sinn use her bench players effectively and limit IIAC player of the year Katie Langmeier to just nine points.

The Tommies fell 87-78 to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the next round, but if past accomplishments are any indication, Sinn and the Tommies will be right back in the NCAA Tournament next year in the hunt for a National Championship.

Best Single Game Performance: Alise Riedel, women’s hockey

St. Thomas women’s hockey goaltender Alise Riedel was the heart and soul of a Tommie team that made its first trip to Frozen Four in program history. St. Thomas’ first opponent was No. 1-seed Plattsburgh State. The Cardinals had a high-powered offense and a stubborn defense anchored by their goalie and Division-III Player of the Year Sydney Aveson. This didn’t rattle the Tommies, including Riedel, who had the best performance of her four-year career wearing the purple, silver and black.

Plattsburgh came out firing on all cylinders by out-shooting St. Thomas 19-5, 19-11 and 14-9 in the first three periods. None of those 52 Cardinal shots found their way past the Tommie wall, also known as Alise Riedel. In overtime, Riedel stopped 11 shots, but with 4:49 left in overtime, Plattsburgh’s Alison Era found a hole in the St. Thomas defense.

Era fired the puck from the blue line and went top shelf, stick side. When all was said and done, Riedel stopped 63 Cardinal shots, a record for saves in a single game at the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. The senior didn’t go out the way she would’ve wanted to, but she will forever live in the record books. Trying to follow in her footsteps for next season is to-be junior Taylor Neisen, a state champion at Breck and a finalist for Minnesota High School Goalie of the Year.

Best Female Career: Taylor Young, women’s basketball

Many players have graced the basketball court at St. Thomas over the years, but very few have been as wildly successful throughout their career as Taylor Young. The senior has been a permanent fixture for the women’s basketball team over the past four years, having started double-digit games each of her four seasons. The forward leaves St. Thomas with her name etched deeply in the record books.

A rare feat, Young managed to be selected to the MIAC All-Conference Team in all four of her seasons. Leading all MIAC freshmen in scoring during her first year, she came out of the gates hot and never cooled off. She was named an All-American in her second year, the lone sophomore honored. This past season, Young was named to the All-West Region second team as the Tommies advanced to their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She also propelled the Tommies to two Sweet Sixteens, two conference titles and three conference playoff titles.

Young finished her illustrious career with 1,398 points, which puts her as the fourth highest scorer in St. Thomas history. She also leaves ranked third in blocks (106) and eighth in assists (257). To add to her stat line, Young recorded 476 rebounds and 162 steals in her career, providing a versatility that the Tommies will miss dearly.

Best Male Career: Kit Weaver, men’s soccer

After emerging as a mainstay in the starting lineup of the St. Thomas men’s soccer team as a sophomore, defender and team captain Kit Weaver led this year’s team to its best defensive performance during his career at St. Thomas. Through three seasons as a starter, Weaver missed only six games, with four of those games occurring this past season due to injury.

From Iowa City West High School, Weaver was a key contributor as a junior to the team’s 2012 MIAC tournament appearance before losing to eventual-champion Gustavus in the semifinals. This year, Weaver captained the Tommie men to their lowest goals against average since 2006.

Though this year’s team did not qualify for the MIAC tournament, the Tommies return eight players for 2014, including sophomores Miles Stockman-Willis and Alex Bernhardt, who finished second and third on the team in goals this season.

Best Breakthrough Performance: Women’s tennis

The St. Thomas women’s tennis team began what has been arguably one of its strongest seasons in a decade with junior Kara Lefsrud and sophomore Bridget Noack’s breakthrough performance at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships in September. The unranked duo upset the Midwest’s top five seeds to reach the national tournament. The two received the program’s first All-American honors since 1993 and carried their energy into the spring to help the women go 15-4 in the regular season. St. Thomas was unbeaten in conference play until late in the season when they dropped a 5-4 decision to Gustavus in the last week before playoffs – a perennial power Gustie team that would end the Tommies’ season just a week later in the second round of the playoffs.

The Tommies graduate just two seniors in Rachel and Anna Wright and will return the core of their top singles and doubles lineups, including All-MIAC players Lefsrud, Noack and sophomore Shelby Henderson.

Freshman of the year: Grant Schaeffer, men’s basketball

With an extremely talented St. Thomas basketball team, Grant Schaeffer was quick to make an impact, leading to two key starts for the Tommies in the MIAC playoffs.

Schaeffer, a graduate of Eden Prairie High School, averaged 14.1 minutes in his rookie season for the Tommies. The freshman averaged 4.8 points, shooting over 75 percent from the field on the season, while playing in 27 of 28 games for the Tommies, only sitting out in the season-opening loss to Pomona-Pitzer. Schaeffer was forced to start his first career game in the MIAC playoffs against Bethel, after senior guard Erik Tengwall went down with an injury. Schaeffer played 28 minutes in that game, scoring a career-high 12 points, proving the future is bright for the young Minnesota native.

Jordan Kruger, Jacob Sevening, Tom Pitzen, Briggs LeSavage and Kyle Jonas contributed to this report.