Hail to the Champions!

The 2012-13 season started with an NCAA Division III champion, as the University of St. Thomas captured the MIAC's first-ever volleyball national championship. So it's only fitting that last week, the MIAC ended its season with another national title, as Hamline star thrower Becky Culp claimed the Division III crown in the javelin.

D-III discus champ Becky Culp.
(Photo courtesy of Hamline Sports Info)

Culp's title culminated an amazing career, and a record-setting senior year. She also added a top-five finish in the shot put at the 2013 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which were held just outside MIAC country, at UW-La Crosse. The Piper star set MIAC meet records - both indoor and outdoor - in the shot put during a season full of individual accolades and All-Conference and All-American honors.

Though her title isn't the league's first-ever in her sport as it was for the Tommie volleyball team, it's still deserving of plenty of recognition and the two combine as a perfect way to bookend a tremendous 2012-13 season in the MIAC. The two will likely be included this summer as the MIAC Media Blog takes a look back at the Top 10 moments of 2012-13. If you have a suggestion for the top 10, feel free to send me an email.

In addition to the one team and one individual national champions, the year also included countless conference records - including Alex Kolquist of Gustavus shattering  the men's golf championship scoring record - and some unforgettable games and moments. The final weekend of the MIAC men's hockey season determined the champion and all five seeds. Both soccer title games went deep into a shootout after 110 minutes couldn't decide a winner. And the spring was condensed to what felt like a few weeks by Mother Nature, though the league persevered and still delivered a season that won't be forgotten for years to come.

We'll have more time to reflect on 2012-13 over the coming months, so for now we'll just say congratulations to Becky one more time. The MIAC's most recent Profile of Excellence subject has represented her school and her conference in tremendous fashion, and we're happy she could close her career atop the podium.

Quick Hits

-Culp wasn't the only senior star to shine at the NCAA OT&F meet. St. Thomas' Taylor Berg finished second in both the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs to close about the best year a distance runner can have in the MIAC. She won the cross country title, Outstanding Track Athlete honors both for indoor and outdoor, and ended with two more All-American honors. Congrats on a great career with a riveting final chapter, Taylor!

-A St. Thomas men's athlete also closed a great career as Eyo Ekpo had a pair of top-seven national finishes in the jumping events at nationals. Ekpo was named MIAC Outstanding Field Athlete five times, including all four indoor honors during his career.

-The season also hit its end for the MIAC in the meeting rooms with the annual spring meeting of the MIAC Presidents' Council Wednesday on the Concordia-St. Paul campus. The MIAC Presidents are the very top of the governance pyramid, and now all legislation to impact future bylaws are set in stone after being discussed and voted on all the way up the ladder. Stay tuned to the MIAC web site this summer, as we'll be issuing a series of press releases to promote some of the bigger changes - there are some exciting new twists coming your way in 2013-14! 

-Up next for the MIAC? Executive Director Dan McKane and myself are headed to NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis on Monday for four fun-filled days. Monday and Tuesday will be spent with the Division III Commissioners' Association (of which McKane is currently the vice chair) and I'll be presenting on a pair of topics including the MIAC Media venture, which includes the blog you're reading right now. Then NCAA Regional Rules will take place Wednesday, followed by a seminar thanks to NADIIIA Thursday, which is the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators. It should be a great week with plenty of learning, and we're excited to see our colleagues and continue learning new things to improve going forward. I joined Host Mike Gallagher on today's MIAC Weekly podcast to talk further about our upcoming trip to the city Peyton Manning used to call home.

-If you have any blog ideas or questions for me about anything under the MIAC sun, don't hesitate to send me an email! We'd love to get more fan interaction on all our MIAC Media platforms, so let us know what you think, what you'd like to read/hear about or any ideas.

Thanks for reading, and hope your summer is getting off to a great start!

By the Numbers

One positive result from the awful "Spring" weather we had in Minnesota, was the expanded MIAC Baseball and Softball Playoffs. Instead of the typical eight teams, this year a total of 18 teams were able to enjoy a postseason experience in one-year-only experiments to try and end a challenging season on a high note.

In short, the experiment was a success, and the increased number of teams starts a MIAC Media Blog look at some of the most impressive numbers from a couple of crazy weekends on the diamonds of North Mankato and Minnetonka.

MIAC Playoffs - By the Numbers

18 - The total number of MIAC softball and baseball teams to participate in the 2013 Playoffs. All 12 softball teams were involved, and six baseball teams made the field as well.

23 - The number of games played in the two tournaments. Amazingly, Gustavus (with some help from Hamline and Carleton) provided live stats for all 18 softball games, with live video for the final six. All five baseball games had live video courtesy of the MIAC and Webcast America (with MIAC Media's Mike Gallagher as part of the broadcast team) and live stats as well courtesy of host school Hamline.

2 - Two team champions resulted from a combined six days and 23 games. Both the St. Thomas baseball and softball teams supplemented their regular-season championships with postseason titles.

6 - The total number of walk-off wins in the MIAC postseason. The Augsburg baseball team walked off Saint Mary's in the 11th inning of a quarterfinal game, only be walked off on a bottom-of-the-ninth home run by Concordia's Devin Johnson a day later as the Cobbers reached their first title game. The softball playoffs had four games end with a winning run crossing the plate - two via home runs. St. Catherine capped a 13-12 slugfest with Macalester on an Alyssa McKee walk-off double. St. Olaf and Bethel both advanced to the double-elimination portion of the tournament with walk-off wins in their final game of pool play. The Oles got a bases-loaded, walk-off sacrifice fly to beat Hamline in a thriller. Meanwhile, Bethel emerged from pool play on a game-winning, two-out, three-run home run by Megan Matson. St. Thomas advanced to the title game thanks to a walk-off home run Saturday by Emily Gregory in the bottom of the eighth inning.

0 - Postseason wins in the history of the Bethel baseball program before the Royals scored a historic 4-2 victory over Saint John's in the quarterfinals of the baseball playoffs.

3 - Home runs in two games by Carleton softball star Jenny Ramey. Her offensive output nearly led the Knights to the four-team, double-elimination tournament. The No. 9 seeded Knights beat No. 4 Saint Mary's, 11-2, then suffered a heart-breaking 7-6 loss to Gustavus to end their remarkable postseason appearance.

7 - Consecutive strikeouts by St. Thomas starting pitcher Colin Wendinger in the MIAC Baseball Playoff championship game. In fact, Wendinger's run only ended because he was removed as the Tommies approached the title game by committee. The UST sophomore struck out eight batters in four brilliant no-hit innings, allowing just a pair of first-inning walks. Wendinger's breaking ball was tremendous, often fooling the aggressive Cobber lineup. Another fun number regarding the UST starter - he's only lost once since his sophomore year of high school.

262 - Total pitches thrown - combined - by Bethel starter Matt Rowley and Saint John's starter Connor Cline in a MIAC Baseball Playoff quarterfinal. Both went the distance, with Rowley (129 pitches) narrowly outdueling Cline (133 pitches) in a marvelous duel.

.667 - Jenna Hoffman's batting average, which was just one of her remarkable numbers in the tournament. The Tommie shortstop had four home runs, three doubles, eight runs scored and seven RBI in five MIAC Playoff games to earn All-Tournament and MVP honors.

15 - Comeback wins for the Augsburg baseball team this season, with No. 15 coming in their 5-4, 11-inning win over Saint Mary's in the MIAC Baseball Playoff quarterfinals. The Auggies were down 4-0, which meant the victory was also their fifth comeback win from a deficit of three runs or more. In that comeback win, there were also an astounding eight batters hit by pitch - five by Saint Mary's pitchers and three by Augsburg

0 - Games that went the regulation 7 innings during Saturday of the MIAC Softball Playoffs. One of the games went to extra innings and was decided in the eighth, while the other three had the eight-run mercy rule invoked in the sixth inning.

2 - The number of games that separated second and ninth place in the MIAC standings. Two teams tied at 11-9, five tied at .500 (either 10-10 or 9-9) and another was 9-11. Parity? I think so.

2013 - The year that saw below-freezing temperatures in April and snow in May to radically alter the baseball and softball landscape, but also the year that saw the most MIAC softball and baseball teams engage in wildly entertaining postseason tournaments in history.

By the numbers, we're all hoping for higher temperatures in 2014 and a return to normalcy for MIAC baseball and softball. However, the teams, coaches and student-athletes showed incredible resiliency and fortitude this season, and the expanded Playoffs were an excellent celebration and reminder of the true spirit of MIAC athletics.

Come together

We've done a lot of complaining in the MIAC about the bad hand that Mother Nature has dealt us this spring. In fact, it's May 1 and I saw legitimate snowflakes falling outside the windows of the MIAC office this afternoon. May. Snow. Come on.

But the complaining stops here. Instead, I'm going to focus on a serious positive that has resulted from the winter ... and second winter ... and third winter ... of 2013. That positive is the revamped 2013 MIAC Softball Playoffs. What is usually a four-team, double-elimination tournament has now been super-sized into an all-comers celebration of softball in the league, and frankly, I think it's awesome.

On one of our many softball conference calls to deal with Snowmageddon 2013, Concordia Head Coach Mike Reese put it best when this 12-team idea was first floated out there. He said - and I'm paraphrasing - that after such a tough season where collectively all our teams faced the same challenges and issues, it would be really cool for everyone to come together at one site and for all the student-athletes to get that unique postseason experience. Now that we've pulled it off and everything is set for this weekend at Caswell Park in North Mankato, Mike's absolutely right ... it's really cool.

Some could call this 12-team tournament and its all-inclusive nature a consolation prize for our coaches and student-athletes who have had their typical season absolutely obliterated by blizzards and ridiculously low temperatures. But I wouldn't say there's anything "consolation" about the new tournament format for 2013. This provides a tremendous postseason experience for ALL of the MIAC's softball student-athletes, and it's extremely cool that it will all happen in one site with 12 games all going on at once tomorrow evening at Caswell. North Mankato will truly become the epicenter of MIAC softball, and everyone will be on-hand to witness and participate.

On top of that, most people (at least in my circle) will tell you their favorite annual sporting event is the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament, and their reasons mirror a lot of the reasons why this weekend's MIAC Softball Playoffs will also be an incredible event. First of all, you have a ton of teams and a ton of games crammed into a very short window. In an era of short attention spans and multi-tasking as a necessity, it's a perfect format. Friday in Caswell, we'll cram 12 games, with each of the 12 teams playing twice, into roughly a six-hour window with games starting on four different fields at 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I'm excited to just go stand in the middle of the complex and take it all in, as action is happening simultaneously all around.

The other aspect people love about the NCAA tourney and "March Madness" is the Cinderella aspect. This year, Florida Gulf Coast played the role to perfection, alley-ooping its way into the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed. Everyone remembers the George Mason and VCU teams that stunned the nation by reaching the Final Four in the past decade. Now, the MIAC Softball Playoffs truly will incorporate the possibility for a Cinderella story to emerge.

What is typically an exclusive showdown for the conference's top four teams will - for this season - include everyone and give each team a fair shot at claiming the MIAC's postseason title. Will all four top seeds hold serve and advance to their "rightful" place in the four-team double-elimination bracket? Will a lower seed emerge with a tremendous postseason performance and spice up the story line on Saturday and Sunday? Will there be any dramatic walk-off finishes or no-hit bids to add to the excitement of an already-exciting tournament?

 

With 12 teams, 12 games Friday and up to seven more Saturday and Sunday, it's safe to say there will be more than enough highlights to fill a "One Shining Moment" montage. However, we won't really know the answers until the first pitch is concurrently thrown on all four Caswell fields and the action gets under way in roughly 27 hours.

 

Frankly, I can't wait. Let's do something we haven't been able to do nearly often enough this spring ... play ball.

The sun - & blog - are back

Hello again MIAC Media Blog readers. The sun came out today, and the MIAC was finally able to play a full slate of baseball and softball games. For the first time all spring, I didn't have any schedule changes to process and our teams are finally back where they belong ... on the field. With 70s in the forecast over the weekend, fingers are crossed that we can finally return to some sense of normalcy for the final week or two of our spring season.

With snow each of the last two weeks, I was buried under spring sports scheduling issues, and wasn't able to get to the blog at all, so I'm coming back strong tonight and hitting on a lot of topics to get everyone caught up on what's been going on around the MIAC. Thanks for your patience! I saw on the news tonight that we should hit 60 degrees in the Twin Cities tomorrow for the first time in 2013. The average date we usually see 60 for the first time? March 26. Exactly one month earlier.

In addition to rescheduling games on a daily basis, you've probably heard by now we ushered in some fairly large changes as well. A week ago today, the MIAC baseball coaches collectively pressed the"reset" button on the 2013 season. We basically took all the unplayed games, scrapped the current schedule, and re-did it with increased dates of competition in an attempt to get all 20 MIAC games in for each team.

Our coaches started a few days earlier with 12 different ideas of how we could salvage the season, and from there they collectively whittled it down to the best scenario. MIAC Executive Director Dan McKane and Assistant Director Afton Goebel took on the big task of re-drawing the schedule using our new play dates, and ultimately the coaches agreed to move forward. Since weather hampered our early-week games, there's a chance we still might not get all 20 games in for every team, but at least now we've got an organized and well thought-out fighting chance.

The coaches also built in a contingency plan to alter the Playoffs. If, on May 8, all MIAC regular-season games cannot be completed, the Playoffs will change from a four-team double-elimination tournament to a six-team single-elimination tournament. Usually there are at least six teams in the mix for the Playoffs with a few games remaining in the season, so if all the games don't gets played, this format would honor all teams in position to make a postseason run.

Basically, our baseball teams have been Rocky Balboa all spring, with Mother Nature is starring as Apollo Creed (although I prefer Carl Weathers, who may be my favorite actor of all time). At this point, we'd like to win, but we're really trying to shock the world and just go the distance. Apollo keeps swinging, we keep getting back up, and hopefully when the bell rings on May 8 or 9, we'll be standing with a fully (or mostly) completed slate of MIAC baseball to set up our always-entertaining Playoffs.

I'd try to construct a Rocky II reference for the Baseball Playoffs, but we also had some huge news on the softball side of things, so I'll move onto that rather than trying another clunky weather-related boxing metaphor.

Softball will not finish its regular season. It's really unfortunate, but with a week less in its regular season, there isn't much we can do. However, the coaches were passionate about two things - accurately crowning our league champ and automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Tournament, and still finding a way to provide a great and exciting experience for their student-athletes, particularly the seniors who have had their final season of the sport they love ravaged by Antarctica-like conditions in April.

The answer? The MIAC is super-sizing its Softball Playoffs. Instead of just four teams, now all 12 are in. there will be round-robin pool play a week from tomorrow (four three-team pools) with the four winners emerging to form the usual four-team double-elimination on Saturday and Sunday, all in time to get our automatic qualifier submitted to the NCAA by the 6 p.m. deadline.

To call this spring disappointing would be a massive understatement. However, when all 12 MIAC Softball teams descend on Caswell Park in Mankato next Friday with four fields of postseason action, I'm really hopeful it will heal some of the weather-related wounds, and it should be a tremendous celebration of MIAC Softball.

So the worst appears to behind us (I almost just broke my hand knocking on wood) and sunnier times lie ahead. We'll be talking about the spring season of 2013 for years, but at this point, it's safe to say everyone is optimistic to move forward and finish with a flourish. With these changes to our baseball schedule and softball postseason, I'm confident we'll do just that.

Draft Day

I'm writing this while watching a huge event on the sports calendar every year, the first round of the NFL Draft. This is a huge day for NCAA Division I, as many of its biggest stars embark on their professional careers.

However, it's a bit different for Division III. Considering my professional ties, watching tonight's draft has made me think a lot about the equivalent for our student-athletes, who are equally great in many, many ways. Occasionally a D-III player has their name called during the draft, which has become a three-day extravaganza. In fact, the MIAC even had a player drafted in 2003, as Gustavus' Ryan Hoag earned the title of "Mr. Irrelevant," which is annually awarded to last selection of the seventh and final round.

To me, there's nothing irrelevant about any graduating MIAC student-athletes, if they're the first pick in the NFL draft, the very last pick, or ... more likely ... pursuing a new career in something else thanks to the education they received. As far as I'm concerned, "Draft Day" for graduating MIAC student-athletes is much more than one day, and just as fulfilling as hearing the NFL Commissioner call your name at Radio City Music Hall.

Instead of going up on a stage to join an NFL team, MIAC graduates move onto their next step by seeing their name on an acceptance letter for graduate school, or picking up the phone to receive their first full-time job offer. While many Division I teams sell recruits on their ability to get them to the NFL, the MIAC institutions pride themselves on preparing their student-athletes for all aspects of life. The NFL Draft and the upcoming graduation days around the league are a pair of great occasions to reflect on the success that awaits our conference's class of 2013.

Quick Hits

-Congrats to the St. Catherine women's tennis team. This week, the Wildcats locked up a share of their first MIAC Women's Tennis regular-season title, as well as the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs. The 14-1 SCU team has a chance to lock up the outright title and an perfect 10-0 MIAC regular season on Friday. Quite a changing of the guard over the last three years ... after owning the conference for three decades, Gustavus was finally unseated by Carleton last season, and it appeared the Knights were ready to carry the mantle. However, Ben Hageseth's team is certainly one of the brightest surprises and best stories in the MIAC in 2012-13.

-Though one Gustavus tennis streak ended last spring, one continued this week as the Gustie men claimed at least a share of their 25th-straight title. We'll examine this feat more appropriately if they lock up the outright title this weekend, but pause a second to think about that. A quarter century ... a QUARTER CENTURY ... atop the conference standings. Quite a feat.

-It's still MIAC Strike Out Prostate Cancer Week. Now that we've got better weather in the forecast, make sure to get out to a MIAC baseball doubleheader this week and support a great cause. If you can't attend in person, the fundraising efforts are also accepting online donations.

-The new episode of the MIAC Media Weekly Podcast with Host Mike Gallagher aired today. If you want to learn more about the new softball developments, his guests are St. Olaf Head Softball Coach Ruthie Neuger, and Saint Mary's Athletic Director Nikki Fennern, who is the A.D. liaison to softball and a former coach herself. Always a great listen.

-Closing the blog with a little bragging ... the MIAC Media Blog, and all our MIAC Media efforts were praised by another blog that I really like and respect. The Small School Social blog, written by Edgewood (Wis.) SID David Petroff, honored the MIAC in his "Who's Killin' It" feature a couple weeks back. I've really enjoyed this blog since it was brought to my attention in March, so to have David recognize our efforts like this was both unexpected and a huge honor. We definitely hope to keep killin' it for a long, long time.

As always, if you have a question for the blog, or one for Mike on the Podcast, send me an email and ask away! We'd love to get the outstanding MIAC fans into the conversation. Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone can finally enjoy their favorite MIAC spring team and some sunshine this weekend!

Final D-III Week Q&As

The second-annual NCAA Division III Week concludes today, Sunday, April 14. To help in this week-long celebration of all the attributes that makes Division III great, the MIAC Media Blog is highlighting some of the members of the conference's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The MIAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) supports student-athletes by providing the communication of ideas and concerns between student-athletes and the MIAC within a structure that will promote active involvement. MIAC SAAC is also committed to engaging in campus and community service projects and to serving as positive role models for their peers and younger student-athletes.

Join us in celebrating Division III athletics throughout the week, and get to know some of the MIAC SAAC student-athletes. Happy Division III Week! We close a tremendous week with two final MIAC SAAC Q&As ... hope everyone enjoyed getting to know some of the MIAC's student-athletes!

MIAC Media Blog - Division III Week SAAC Q&A

Danny Shields, Carleton College

 

Name: Danny Shields
School: Carleton College
Sport: Football
Year: Junior
Hometown: Richfield, Minn.
Major: Economics

MIAC: What do you think is the most important aspect of NCAA Division III that should be celebrated during Division III Week?

SHIELDS: The D-III student-athletes! D-III student-athletes play for love of the game and athletic competition. D-III athletes deserve the respect of their coaches, their schools and the fans because they play for their teams and their schools, without expectation of personal gain or financial reward. 

MIAC: What is your favorite aspect of being a Division III and MIAC student-athlete?

SHIELDS: I have been so fortunate to have incredible football and baseball teammates at Carleton. Whether it was competing together during a game, or studying for an exam, the time spent with these guys has truly been a blessing for me. They are my family away from home.

MIAC: Name someone at your school who has made a huge impact on either your athletic or academic career. How has their guidance influenced you?

SHIELDS: Professor Jenny Bourne, the Carleton Faculty Athletic Representative and our number one economics professor, has been a great mentor to me not only in the classroom, but in athletics as well. Jenny is the smartest person I have ever met, and cares more about her students that anyone I know. My conversations with her about NCAA athletics, the MIAC, coaches and players, have been invaluable to me as I have balanced academics and athletics. I have enjoyed the econ classes I have taken from her, and I know they have prepared me for life after college.

On the flipside, Carleton is known for its academics and not athletics. There are students and professors here at Carleton who couldn’t care less about sports. Jenny is the opposite: She is supportive of all the athletes and has a genuine love for sports that is unfortunately unusual among the faculty at Carleton. She understands the time and effort student athletes put in and the sacrifices we make.  

MIAC: What's your favorite athletic moment of your college career so far?

SHIELDS:  My favorite athletic moment was my first collegiate start at quarterback when we beat Macalester in overtime. My running back set a school record for rushing that day, so I had a lot of fun just watching him go!  It was a great feeling holding up the ‘Book of Knowledge’ after the game with my teammates.

MIAC: What's your favorite non-athletic moment of your college career so far?

SHIELDS: This past November, I was able to attend the 2012 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Dallas, Texas. It was a life changing experience that I will never forget. I met and discussed collegiate athletic issues with a group of amazing student athletes, and very successful coaches and athletic directors. I learned so much from them all.   

MIAC: What are your future plans, and how has your experience as a Division III student-athlete shaped you for success beyond college?

SHIELDS: This summer I will return to Target Corporation for a leadership development internship. After graduation and the end of my football career, I plan on continuing to play baseball while I approach the beginning of my work career. My experience as a student athlete has taught me many things including proper time management, the importance of true friendship, and anger management!

MIAC: Thanks to Danny for joining the MIAC Media Blog's Q&A Series! Stay tuned to the blog throughout the week to get to know some of the conference's outstanding student-athletes, and visit the MIAC's Division III Week Home Page to see all the events and content throughout the conference through this very special week! 

MIAC Media Blog - Division III Week SAAC Q&A

Eric Dooley, Augsburg College

Name: Eric Dooley

School: Augsburg

Sport: Football

Year: Senior

Hometown: Eagan, Minn.

Major: Physics/Secondary Education

Minor: Math

MIAC: What do you think is the most important aspect of NCAA Division III that should be celebrated during Division III Week?

DOOLEY: I believe that we are the truest form of the student-athlete.  We are students first on all counts and our prowess in the classroom really sets us apart.  We are able to balance school, family, friends, and a job on top of being athletes.  Division III student-athletes do all of this without the aid of sport-related scholarship money, too.

MIAC: What is your favorite aspect of being a Division III and MIAC student-athlete?

DOOLEY: I love being able to play at a competitive level in the best Division III conference in the country.  We have a proud tradition in the MIAC of putting out great athletes and even better scholars.  Getting a great education and playing great competition really sets us apart. 

MIAC: Name someone at your school who has made a huge impact on either your athletic or academic career. How has their guidance influenced you?

DOOLEY: Josh 'BG' Corrigan made a big impact on my athletic career.  He was a senior offensive lineman when I was a freshman at the same position.  He took me under his wing and taught me what it meant to play tackle at a high level, while teaching me a few of the tricks he kept up his sleeve too.  

Academically, Ron Petrich in our education department helped me truly want to pursue being an educator.  He was a former baseball coach as well, so he understood the balance that is required of coaching and teaching.

MIAC: What's your favorite athletic moment of your college career so far?

DOOLEY: Hearing 12,000 fans go quiet in Collegeville when we threw a Hail Mary touchdown pass with 0.6 seconds left in the game to win 32-31.

MIAC: What's your favorite non-athletic moment of your college career so far?

DOOLEY: Being able to perform two summers of research through our physics department.

MIAC: What are your future plans, and how has your experience as a Division III student-athlete shaped you for success beyond college?

DOOLEY: I plan on getting my teaching license for grades 9-12 physics with an endorsement in math.  While teaching I want to coach football, to give back to the sport that has helped shaped me today and provide opportunities for young athletes to enjoy football.  Being a Division III athlete has helped me time manage like it's my job!  So being able to keep focus and be productive with a lot on my plate will help me anywhere.

MIAC: Thanks to Eric as well, for joining the MIAC Media Blog's Q&A Series! Thanks for following the blog throughout the week to learn more about some of the MIAC's outstanding student-athletes, and visit the MIAC's Division III Week Home Page to see all the events and content throughout the conference through this very special week!