Did you know?

A year ago, the MIAC switched to a new format for the season previews. Instead of schools submitting write-ups, the conference's sports information directors agreed on a template so each school could equally share the same interesting information about their team heading into the season.

As I compiled the previews for this fall, I particularly enjoyed the "Did you Know?" section for many of the sports and schools. Many of the facts provided were interesting and amusing, and are worthy of highlight in the MIAC Media Blog.

Since football gets a lot of love on the MIAC site and in this space, I thought it would be great to spread the love around to other sports by sharing my favorite "Did you Know?" facts from our other fall sports. There were a lot of great athletically-related facts submitted by the schools, but the ones that caught my eye helped me get to know the student-athletes or coaches a little better, or provided information that I could never get from the standings or statistics.

Without further adieu...

The MIAC Media Blog's favorite fall "Did You Know?" facts

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

• Concordia senior Ryan Sederquist is also an accomplished musician and is a Music Education major. He has played the trumpet in the Concordia jazz band and is also a board member and newsletter editor for the Bad Medicine Lake Association.

• Gustavus assistant coach Brenden Huber won the men's 10k race at the Ninth Annual Fargo Marathon this past May.  Huber turned in a winning time of 33:41.  Also at the 2013 Fargo Marathon, 2005 Gustavus graduate, Nicole Porath, won the women's marathon with a time of 2:50.49. 

• Macalester Head Coach Matt Haugen is a former MIAC champion.  He won the race as an Ole in 1977.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

• Bethel’s top runner for the past two seasons, Mollie Gillberg, will not be with the Royals in 2013 as she is studying with Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Belfast, Ireland from October through February. Gillberg will look to return to the Royals lineup in 2014.

• Concordia junior Becca Asheim grew up singing and performing music with her family.

• Macalester sophomore Sarah Jonathon (Guilford, Conn.) is the great-great granddaughter of former U.S. President (1909-13) and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

MEN'S GOLF

• Concordia junior Sam Christian had three uncles and his grandfather all play on the United States Olympic hockey team. His uncle Dave played on the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team.    

• Macalester Head Coach Tomas Adalsteinsson is a former golfer for Iceland's national team and in 2000 placed 25th at the European team championship.  In 2001 he was Icelandic Junior champion and Icelandic Junior Tour champion. 

WOMEN'S GOLF

• Cobber freshman Allison Burns is a second degree black belt.

• Gustavus first-year Mallory Drenttel (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) is the third Drenttel to play for head coach Scott Moe in the last six years.  Mallory follows in the footsteps of sisters Taylor `12 and current captain Jordan `15 in joining the Gustie women's golf team in St. Peter. 

• Saint Benedict Head Coach Daryl Schomer was runner-up at the 2012 State Amateur Tournament, while winning the Mixed Amateur Team Championship.

MEN'S SOCCER

• At one point in the 2013 season Bethel University’s men’s soccer team will travel 1,157 miles for four games within a seven-day time period. The Royals travel to Saint John’s, Wartburg, Concordia, and Saint Mary’s in the middle of October.

• Concordia freshman Ben Deetz was born in Harrisburg, Pa. but was raised in Harrisburg, S.D.  

• St. Olaf's David Rosenthal played for the Team USA men's open soccer team in the 2013 Maccabiah Games, an event that featured over 9,000 athletes from 77 countries in 38 sporting events, known as the "Jewish Olympics." The US team won the gold medal. 

WOMEN'S SOCCER

• Carleton has 13 states represented on their roster—Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin—as well as a player from Canada.

• The Gustavus women's soccer team will host its second annual "Kicking For The Cause" match on Saturday, September 28th against Saint Benedict.  The match will serve as a fundraising event for Yuwa, a nationally-based non-profit organization reaching out to girls in rural India, specifically Jharkland. Through team sports, Yuwa provides a platform for young women to gain confidence and make a change in their world. 

• Macalester coach Michele Cornish helped lead George Mason (Va.) to the 1985 Division I national crown and was head coach at Division I North Carolina-Asheville from 1994 to 2010. 

VOLLEYBALL

• Augsburg head coach Jane Becker will be inducted into the University of St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Sept. 19. A 2004 St. Thomas alumnae, Becker (nee Gibbs) was a two-time All-America and four-time All-MIAC honoree as a setter for the Tommies, as part of teams that won MIAC titles in 2002 and 2003. She was named MIAC Volleyball Player of the Year in 2003.

• Concordia senior Angie Waller is very proficient at walking on her hands. She can walk on her hands for a very long time. 

• Hamline first year head coach Becky Egan has some familiar faces to work with. Assistant coach Karlee Lursen and soph transfer Micki Green played for her at Eastview High School.

• Head Coach Annie Doman played Division I competition as a collegian.  Doman was a standout setter at Austin Peay State (Tenn.) and finished with just under 5,000 assists.