University of St. Thomas Athletics
Grad student Burt Hedstrom set a program record for career games played
Photo by: Liam Doyle
Gene's Blog: Positive signs for St. Thomas winter-sport teams
3/10/2022 11:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Gene's Blog
St. Thomas' winter sports season started in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday Sept. 24 with a WCHA women's hockey game against Ohio State. The season quietly wrapped up last Saturday March 5 in Mankato, Minn., with a Men's Hockey loss to No. 1-ranked Minnesota State in the CCHA playoffs.
That closed out a 23-week campaign for the Tommies' hockey, swim-dive, basketball and indoor track and field teams.
These first Division I seasons in these sports brought the expected highs and lows. But the won-loss records and final conference standings hardly told the story of St. Thomas' overall progress.
Jumping directly into the D-I world as it did, St. Thomas student-athletes and coaches brought impressive effort and energy. The poise and resilience the Purple regularly showed against the established D-I opponents should build confidence for next season.
Here are some bright spots to celebrate from the 2021-22 Tommie winter sports:
Women's Hockey
St. Thomas Women's Hockey coach Joel Johnson did something in February last accomplished by a Tommie in 1948. Johnson brought home an Olympic medal, in his case a silver in his role as U.S. Women's Hockey head coach.
St. Thomas freshmen hockey players Nicole Vallario and Saskia Maurer competed on Switzerland's team that reached the bronze-medal game and placed fourth. The pair became the first active University of St. Thomas students to compete in an Olympic Games.
(Two athletes with a St. Thomas connection previously had Olympic Games resumes. Bobby Fitzgerald was a young alum of St. Thomas when he shared a silver medal in speedskating at the 1948 Olympic Games. Fitzgerald competed again in the 1952 Winter Games but was unable to medal. Leo Freisinger was a 1936 Olympic bronze medalist in speedskating, and he later enrolled at St. Thomas in 1937, where he played one season of football).
In its initial D-I season, Women's Hockey showed that it was well coached and disciplined. The Toms had the third fewest penalty minutes a game (4.73) in D-I hockey. The Purple also had the second most goalie saves at 1,271. They faced 43 shots per game, and saved 38.5.
All against a rugged schedule. The Tommies played 18 games alone against WCHA heavyweights Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth. Those four will all compete in the 11-team national tournament.
Men's Hockey
Under new head coach Rico Blasi, nine of the Tommies' 15 forwards and eight of the nine defensemen came into the season with little to no Division I game experience. So there were the expected early growing pains.
But St. Thomas showed steady improvement, and was a tough team to put away as they CCHA season went on. The Toms lost four overtime games to conference opponents.
One example: The Toms were outscored by Bemidji State by a combined 11-3 in Dec. 3-4 home losses, but lost 5-3 (empty-net) and 4-3 (overtime) on the road in the Feb. 25-26 rematch series.
St. Thomas faced the fifth most shots in D-I at 35 per game, and saved nearly 31 a contest.
The Purple had 21 losses to teams ranked in the top 20 at some point in the season. That included eight defeats vs. teams ranked No. 1 or 2 in the country in Minnesota State and St. Cloud State. In those eight contests, they were outscored by an average score of 6-1. In the remaining 28 games, the Purple were outscored by average of 4-2.
Women's Basketball
St. Thomas recorded four road wins and also posted a three-game winning streak early in the Summit League season. Coach Ruth Sinn's team lost seven games by 11 or fewer points in a 7-21 finish.
Guard Jade Hill played the most minutes per game of any women's freshman player in D-I hoops. Hill averaged 36.15 minutes over 28 games. (Only one freshman D-I men's player, Trey Townsend of Oakland at 36.24, had a higher per-game average.)
A Minneapolis South High grad, Hill averaged 13.6 points and 3.0 assists, and converted 77 percent at the foul line.
Senior grad student Erin Norling had a team-best 14.4 scoring average in her lone St. Thomas season. She finished her five-year college career playing in 125 games with 1,989 points, 754 rebounds, 276 assists and 12 double-doubles in points/rebounds.
Kaia Porter played in 100 college games with the Tommies and finished with 898 points and 396 rebounds.
Swim-Dive
St. Thomas Men's Swim-Dive broke six all-time program records this season, the latest at last month's Summit League Championships:
Coach Scott Blanchard took 42 athletes of both genders to the conference meet, including 26 freshmen and sophomores.
Indoor Track and Field
Senior Parker Feuerborn had a top-45 D-I performance this indoor season in the weight throw with a career-best of 68-7. He made dramatic gains over his four-year weight throw career with a freshman best of 49-5.5; a sophomore best of 59-7 3-4; and this year's 68-7 throw, within 1-4 inch of a school record.
Feuerborn (third-place weight throw) was among three Toms to get All-Summit League with top-three placings at the league meet. He was joined by freshman Jack Rosner (second in the heptathlon) and freshman Isaiah Hopf (third in long jump).
Senior Erik Anderson broke a school record in the 60 hurdles (8.17) – a record that Rosner had broken in January in his college debut (8.26).
On the women's side, senior transfer Molly Reighard broke a school record in the 400. Her career-best 56.35 placed fifth in the Summit League meet and topped Angela Tipp's 2015 school record.
Of the 56 Tommie athletes entered at the Summit indoor meet, 23 were competing in their first college conference track and field meet. The Tommie women had 14 freshmen and one grad transfer in their 28-athlete lineup. The St. Thomas men had nine freshmen and eight sophomores in their 28-man contingent.
Three Tommie newcomers ranked among the top 75 freshmen nationally in their events on the Division I indoor season -- Rosner in the heptathlon and 60 hurdles; Hopf in the triple jump; and Gary Afram in the 60 dash.
Men's Basketball
St. Thomas had the fewest turnovers per game among all Division I teams at 8.1. They made the fifth most 3-point baskets per game among all D-I programs at 11.1 (second most in the Summit League behind Oral Roberts).
The Purple's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.55 trailed only five D-I programs and led the Summit League. The Toms' .758 free-throw percentage ranked second in the Summit and was among the 40 best percentages in D-I.
St. Thomas' 10-20 won-loss record included a 7-8 mark in games at home and on neutral courts.
For the third year in a row and fourth time in seven seasons, Coach John Tauer's squad won its final game of its season. That's rare for a program that regularly reaches postseason play. Here's how it happened:
St. Thomas also lost a close road game at Drake, an eventual 24-win team that reached the Missouri Valley Conference playoff title game. The Toms trailed by four points and had the ball in the final 90 seconds before taking a 10-point loss.
Riley Miller surpassed 100 made threes this season and moved to 205 3-pointers made on his 94-game career. He also climbed within 27 points of the school's 1,000-point scoring club. Miller made 103 treys as he converted 41 percent behind the arc. Miller was one of just four D-I shooters to make 100 or more threes and convert at 40 percent or better behind the arc.
Miller also converted 90.8 at the foul line (79 of 87) to rank in the top 12 in D-I and second in the Summit League. That's the best free-throw clip by a Tommie since Alex Healy made 92.2 percent (71 of 77) as a senior in 2011 on a 30-3 NCAA champion team.
Burt Hedstrom became the first Tommie to play in 121 men's hoops games. Hedstrom started the final 66 games of his career and closed with 912 points and 491 rebounds.
Ryan Lindberg surpassed 200 career threes made (205) in 114 games. Lindberg had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over his three seasons as a starter.
Anders Nelson moved his career totals to 94 games, 1,426 points, 310 assists, 394 rebounds and 149 made 3-pointers while converting at 81 percent at the foul line.
Redshirt sophomore Brooks Allen showed that he's among the most improved players in the conference. He averaged 10 points and five boards over his last 13 games. Allen recorded just nine points in nine varsity games as a freshman and sophomore while competing in Division III.
--
That closed out a 23-week campaign for the Tommies' hockey, swim-dive, basketball and indoor track and field teams.
These first Division I seasons in these sports brought the expected highs and lows. But the won-loss records and final conference standings hardly told the story of St. Thomas' overall progress.
Jumping directly into the D-I world as it did, St. Thomas student-athletes and coaches brought impressive effort and energy. The poise and resilience the Purple regularly showed against the established D-I opponents should build confidence for next season.
Here are some bright spots to celebrate from the 2021-22 Tommie winter sports:
Women's Hockey
St. Thomas Women's Hockey coach Joel Johnson did something in February last accomplished by a Tommie in 1948. Johnson brought home an Olympic medal, in his case a silver in his role as U.S. Women's Hockey head coach.
St. Thomas freshmen hockey players Nicole Vallario and Saskia Maurer competed on Switzerland's team that reached the bronze-medal game and placed fourth. The pair became the first active University of St. Thomas students to compete in an Olympic Games.
(Two athletes with a St. Thomas connection previously had Olympic Games resumes. Bobby Fitzgerald was a young alum of St. Thomas when he shared a silver medal in speedskating at the 1948 Olympic Games. Fitzgerald competed again in the 1952 Winter Games but was unable to medal. Leo Freisinger was a 1936 Olympic bronze medalist in speedskating, and he later enrolled at St. Thomas in 1937, where he played one season of football).
In its initial D-I season, Women's Hockey showed that it was well coached and disciplined. The Toms had the third fewest penalty minutes a game (4.73) in D-I hockey. The Purple also had the second most goalie saves at 1,271. They faced 43 shots per game, and saved 38.5.
All against a rugged schedule. The Tommies played 18 games alone against WCHA heavyweights Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth. Those four will all compete in the 11-team national tournament.
Men's Hockey
Under new head coach Rico Blasi, nine of the Tommies' 15 forwards and eight of the nine defensemen came into the season with little to no Division I game experience. So there were the expected early growing pains.
But St. Thomas showed steady improvement, and was a tough team to put away as they CCHA season went on. The Toms lost four overtime games to conference opponents.
One example: The Toms were outscored by Bemidji State by a combined 11-3 in Dec. 3-4 home losses, but lost 5-3 (empty-net) and 4-3 (overtime) on the road in the Feb. 25-26 rematch series.
St. Thomas faced the fifth most shots in D-I at 35 per game, and saved nearly 31 a contest.
The Purple had 21 losses to teams ranked in the top 20 at some point in the season. That included eight defeats vs. teams ranked No. 1 or 2 in the country in Minnesota State and St. Cloud State. In those eight contests, they were outscored by an average score of 6-1. In the remaining 28 games, the Purple were outscored by average of 4-2.
Women's Basketball
St. Thomas recorded four road wins and also posted a three-game winning streak early in the Summit League season. Coach Ruth Sinn's team lost seven games by 11 or fewer points in a 7-21 finish.
Guard Jade Hill played the most minutes per game of any women's freshman player in D-I hoops. Hill averaged 36.15 minutes over 28 games. (Only one freshman D-I men's player, Trey Townsend of Oakland at 36.24, had a higher per-game average.)
A Minneapolis South High grad, Hill averaged 13.6 points and 3.0 assists, and converted 77 percent at the foul line.
Senior grad student Erin Norling had a team-best 14.4 scoring average in her lone St. Thomas season. She finished her five-year college career playing in 125 games with 1,989 points, 754 rebounds, 276 assists and 12 double-doubles in points/rebounds.
Kaia Porter played in 100 college games with the Tommies and finished with 898 points and 396 rebounds.
Swim-Dive
St. Thomas Men's Swim-Dive broke six all-time program records this season, the latest at last month's Summit League Championships:
- Junior Will Goldman took third in the 100 Breaststroke (55.50), a time that broke Noah Faldet's 2019 school record.
- Freshman Joe Rudd broke his own record and placed fourth in the 200 Breaststroke (2:02.28); he previously broke Logan Shafer's 2020 record.
- Freshman Alex Foti broke his own record in the 1650 Free (15:58.34); he previously broke Warren Melton's 2016 record.
- The women's 400 medley relay unit of Sophie Curran, Grace Urkiel, Anna Astrup and Elizabeth Bonneville broke a five-year-old record with a 3:47.30 clocking
- Astrup (58.62) and Blake Baertlein (52.93) both set new standards in the 100 IM (a new conference event)
Coach Scott Blanchard took 42 athletes of both genders to the conference meet, including 26 freshmen and sophomores.
Indoor Track and Field
Senior Parker Feuerborn had a top-45 D-I performance this indoor season in the weight throw with a career-best of 68-7. He made dramatic gains over his four-year weight throw career with a freshman best of 49-5.5; a sophomore best of 59-7 3-4; and this year's 68-7 throw, within 1-4 inch of a school record.
Feuerborn (third-place weight throw) was among three Toms to get All-Summit League with top-three placings at the league meet. He was joined by freshman Jack Rosner (second in the heptathlon) and freshman Isaiah Hopf (third in long jump).
Senior Erik Anderson broke a school record in the 60 hurdles (8.17) – a record that Rosner had broken in January in his college debut (8.26).
On the women's side, senior transfer Molly Reighard broke a school record in the 400. Her career-best 56.35 placed fifth in the Summit League meet and topped Angela Tipp's 2015 school record.
Of the 56 Tommie athletes entered at the Summit indoor meet, 23 were competing in their first college conference track and field meet. The Tommie women had 14 freshmen and one grad transfer in their 28-athlete lineup. The St. Thomas men had nine freshmen and eight sophomores in their 28-man contingent.
Three Tommie newcomers ranked among the top 75 freshmen nationally in their events on the Division I indoor season -- Rosner in the heptathlon and 60 hurdles; Hopf in the triple jump; and Gary Afram in the 60 dash.
Men's Basketball
St. Thomas had the fewest turnovers per game among all Division I teams at 8.1. They made the fifth most 3-point baskets per game among all D-I programs at 11.1 (second most in the Summit League behind Oral Roberts).
The Purple's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.55 trailed only five D-I programs and led the Summit League. The Toms' .758 free-throw percentage ranked second in the Summit and was among the 40 best percentages in D-I.
St. Thomas' 10-20 won-loss record included a 7-8 mark in games at home and on neutral courts.
For the third year in a row and fourth time in seven seasons, Coach John Tauer's squad won its final game of its season. That's rare for a program that regularly reaches postseason play. Here's how it happened:
- 2016: Won Division III national championship over Benedictine (Ill.)
- 2020: Won at UW-Platteville in NCAA playoff round of 32 (national Covid fears ended season five days later)
- 2021: Won at Gustavus to cap a 7-0 finish (season reduced by Covid protocols thus no NCAA tournament)
- 2022: Won 95-74 at home against Omaha (no postseason chance due to Toms' NCAA D-I transition)
St. Thomas also lost a close road game at Drake, an eventual 24-win team that reached the Missouri Valley Conference playoff title game. The Toms trailed by four points and had the ball in the final 90 seconds before taking a 10-point loss.
Riley Miller surpassed 100 made threes this season and moved to 205 3-pointers made on his 94-game career. He also climbed within 27 points of the school's 1,000-point scoring club. Miller made 103 treys as he converted 41 percent behind the arc. Miller was one of just four D-I shooters to make 100 or more threes and convert at 40 percent or better behind the arc.
Miller also converted 90.8 at the foul line (79 of 87) to rank in the top 12 in D-I and second in the Summit League. That's the best free-throw clip by a Tommie since Alex Healy made 92.2 percent (71 of 77) as a senior in 2011 on a 30-3 NCAA champion team.
Burt Hedstrom became the first Tommie to play in 121 men's hoops games. Hedstrom started the final 66 games of his career and closed with 912 points and 491 rebounds.
Ryan Lindberg surpassed 200 career threes made (205) in 114 games. Lindberg had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over his three seasons as a starter.
Anders Nelson moved his career totals to 94 games, 1,426 points, 310 assists, 394 rebounds and 149 made 3-pointers while converting at 81 percent at the foul line.
Redshirt sophomore Brooks Allen showed that he's among the most improved players in the conference. He averaged 10 points and five boards over his last 13 games. Allen recorded just nine points in nine varsity games as a freshman and sophomore while competing in Division III.
--
Gene's Blog is a sports column penned by Tommie sports information director Gene McGivern. Gene is working his 28th season at St. Thomas and 34th overall working with college athletics teams. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies and college sports.
If you have comments or questions, e-mail Gene at ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu
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