Three Gustavus Adolphus senior female athletes conclude their collegiate careers by adding at least one more honor to their respective trophy cases, as Sara Yungner (Maple Grove, Minn), Katie Schenfeld (Indianola, Iowa), and Sam Frank (Mahtomedia, Minn.) have all earned a spot on the 2011 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America At-Large Team. Yungner takes home First Team honors, while Schenfeld and Frank earn Second and Third Team distinction, respectively. The three seniors are the only members of the MIAC to be named Academic All-America.
The women’s at-large program for Academic All-America includes the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, and water polo.
Sara Yungner
Yungner, a four-year staple of head coach Mike Carroll’s defense, earns Academic All-America honors for the first time in her career. During her tenure on the hill, the Gustavus women’s hockey team won four MIAC regular season and playoff titles, made it to the NCAA Division III Women’s Frozen Four twice, and compiled a record of 91-18-9.
Yungner, an All-Conference performer in the 2008-09 season, played in 104 games, notching 10 goals and 29 assists for a total of 39 points. She is one of just 15 players in Gustavus history to play in more than 100 games. The blue liner was an impressive +66 in her career, recording six power play goals and two game-winning goals.
This past season, Yungner became the second consecutive Gustavus recipient of the NCAA Elite 88 Award at the NCAA DIII Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. The Elite 88 Award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals site of each of the NCAA Championships.
The Maple Grove, Minn., product is a three-time Academic All-MIAC performer with a 3.96 GPA and major in biology. Sara plans to attend medical school at the University of Minnesota.
The 15 members of the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.95. Seven of the 15 honorees have 4.00 G.P.A.’s.
Katie Schenfeld
Schenfeld also makes her first appearance on the Academic All-America Team, receiving second team honors with a 3.78 G.P.A. with a double major in management and health fitness. Schenfeld will go down as one of the best women’s golfers in the history of the program after an outstanding career representing the black and gold.
This season, the senior led the Gusties to their third straight MIAC Championship. She became the first Gustavus golfer to win the individual crown in back-to-back years, being named Player and Senior of the Year by the MIAC following the spring season.
At the 2011 Division III NCAA Championships, Gustavus finished runner-up for the second year in a row. Schenfeld earned All-America honors for the third time in her career after finishing tied for third place.
Over her four-year career at Gustavus, the Indianola, Iowa native recorded a stroke average of 80.3, playing 92 rounds in 44 events. Schenfeld won 12 events, placed in the top-five 24 times, and finished in the top-10 on 34 occasions. The four-time All-MIAC performer boasts a winning percentage of .272 over her career. Schenfeld is currently job searching in the greater Marshall, Minn., area with hopes of returning to the Mankato region to attend graduate school in the future.
Sam Frank
Frank, head coach Jon Carlson’s No. 1 singles player this season, went 23-10 overall in singles and 26-9 in doubles. In the fall portion of the 2010-11 season, Frank won the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional, earning a bid into the eight-player singles draw of the ITA Small College Championships. The senior won two matches before falling in the championship match and was the first women’s tennis player at Gustavus to advance to the final at the ITA Small College Championships. In the spring, the Gusties captured their 20th consecutive MIAC Championship after going 10-0 in league play. They later won their fifth straight MIAC Playoff title to advance to the NCAA Championships.
During Frank’s four-year career, the Gustavus women’s tennis team went 101-40 overall and 40-0 in the MIAC. During the Mahtomedi, Minn., native’s tenure wearing the three crowns, she has turned in an overall record of 72-59 in singles and 101-41 in doubles, while going 33-4 in singles and 32-3 in doubles within conference play. Frank maintained a 3.72 G.P.A with a major in biology at Gustavus, earning a place on the Academic All-America Third Team. She will work as a medical scribe for a year following graduation to gain experience in the clinical medical setting. Frank then plans to attend physician assistant school starting in the fall of 2012.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510