Katie Theisen gets elite award from College Sporting News

May 04, 2009

St. Thomas All-American distance runner Katie Theisen has been chosen to receive the College Sporting News Senior Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

St. John's All-American golfer Joe Daly was the male recipient.

CSN's selection committee comprised of coaches, administrators and former MIAC athletes chose them from a group of 24 seniors nominated by the schools.

UST two-time All-American volleyball player Katie McCaffrey was one of three female finalists.

The honorees were recognized for excellence on the playing field, coupled with superior academic performance and involvement in community service.

Last year, Theisen's brother P.J. (football, track and field) was the male winner, and UST softball All-American Maria Bye was the female recipient.

Theisen, a Biology major from Elko, Minn. and a graduate of New Prague High, is a three-time All-American in cross country and a two-time All-American in track. She is an All-MIAC performer in track and cross country each year, and has helped St. Thomas to 10 (of a possible 11) team championships in her sports. She was named a first-team eam Academic All-American by CoSIDA/ESPN and is a recipient of an NCAA post-graduate scholarship. She has been involved in fundraising efforts for Huntington�s disease and Autism. Theisen was active in development of the Tommie Olympics and in organizing the first UST Athletic Banquet. She volunteers in the Campus Ministry and is president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.

Daly, an Accounting major from Owatonna, MN, is a member of the two-time defending national championship golf team. He was a Third Team All-American in 2008, as well as an All-District selection by GCAA. He was medalist at the MIAC Meet his freshman year, winning MIAC Freshman of the Year honors, and was fifth this fall. Daly has been named Academic All-MIAC and was named an All-American Scholar in 2008. He is a Regent Scholar, SJU�s top academic scholarship. His community service includes four years of involvement with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, being part of the group that founded SJU�s Fellowship of Christian Athletes group, volunteering with the Red Cross, being involved in the Student Senate and serving as the group's President two years.

Katie Theisen

School: University of St. Thomas

Sport: Cross country, track and field

Major: Biology

Grade-Point Average: 4.00

Athletic Accomplishments

--Two-time cross country All-American

--Four-time All-MIAC in cross country

--Three-time All-American in track

--Earned All-MIAC honors 27 times in track and field

--Anchored UST to NCAA runner-up finish in distance medley relay in both 2008 and 2009

- 2008 NCAA track qualifier in four events

- 2009 NCAA outdoor qualifier in mile and steeplechase

--Broke MIAC all-time record in steeplechase.

--Anchored UST distance medley relay team that took first place at the Drake Relays, the first MIAC relay win at Drake since 1932

Academics

--2008 CoSIDA Academic All-American (is also nominated for 2009)

--2008 NCAA Postgraduate Scholar

--2008 Goldwater Scholar for research

--Involved in Undergraduate student research in the Biology Department for three years

--Recipient of two Collaborative Inquiry Grants for research

--Presented research at UST's Inquiry at UST research symposium three separate times

--Presented research at the International Meeting for the Study of Evolution for the past two years

--Co-author on a scientific paper that is being published in the Journal of Evolutionary

Community Service

--Volunteer at campus ministry as a Eucharistic Minister on Sundays

--President of the Student Athlete Advisory Council

--Instituted the first UST Athlete Banquet, a spring dinner and dance to celebrate Tommie athletes (this year is the second year for the hopefully annual event)

--Participated in Community Clean-up (raking leaves in the community) during fall and Spring Semesters the past two years

--Helped organize the Salvation Army's Toys for Teens drive on campus for the past three years

--Involved in spring fundraiser for the past three years: 1) Kickball for Autism, 2) basketball for Huntington's, 3) kickball for Huntington's

--Organized and help put on a "Speaker Series" where UST coaches speak to the St. Thomas student body about "What it takes" to be successful.

--Developed and put on the first Tommie Olympics, where athletes can get together in friendly competition amongst teams in events that do not pertain to any sport (ex. hoola hooping)

--Involved in Code Purple, an email alert system. SAAC reps would tell me when big games were and I would email the group urging them to bring their teams to the game and show support

--Helped write the declaration for the UST chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which has been a recognized UST organization for two years now