Less than a week out from the start of 2024-25 University of Minnesota Duluth fall sports seasons hitting the playing fields and court against outside competition, it's time for one final look back at the incredible accomplishments of all of the Bulldog teams in 2023-24.

For an athletic department known for great success over the decades, 2023-24 was no different. UMD thrived in 2023-24 and accomplished each of the three C's (Competition, Classroom, and Community). Here's a complete look back at the 2023-24 UMD athletic accomplishments.

COMPETITION:

-  Four UMD programs advanced to the NCAA Tournament or had a student-athlete advance to an NCAA Meet in 2023-24, including two teams that earned at least one NCAA postseason win. Women's hockey, men's basketball, volleyball and men's outdoor track and field had NCAA postseason berths. Women's hockey and men's basketball grabbed first-round NCAA overtime wins on the road, with men's basketball advancing to the NCAA Regional semifinal after Matty Thompson's lay-up in the paint as time expired pushed the Bulldogs past Fort Hays State 59-58 on March 16 in Mankato, Minn. Two days before Thompson hit his buzzer-beater, graduate forward Mannon McMahon lifted the UMD women's hockey team over the University of Connecticut in the NCAA First Round after double overtime to lead the Bulldogs to a 1-0 victory and their third-straight NCAA Regional Final appearance.

On the individual side, senior thrower Eli Bicek finished 14th in the men's hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in late May. Bicek, who had the highest national finish by a UMD men's thrower since 2005, won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship with a 60.5m toss, breaking the previous UMD program record in the process.

A sport-by-sport highlight of 2023-24 –

Fall Teams

Men's and Women's Cross Country: The Bulldog men's program closed out the season finishing 8th at the NCAA Central Region Championship. After an impressive 2nd place finish at the NSIC championship, all of the Bulldog's top five runners finished within the top 60 at the regional. Jack Van Kempen led the pack finishing 27th overall, while Lucas Selman stayed close finishing in 35th overall. The Bulldog women's program closed out the season finishing 6th at the NSIC championship and 11th at the NCAA Central Region Championship. All of the Bulldog's top five runners finished within the top 100 at the regional, with Lauryn Renier leading the pack in 46th overall. 
 

Football: The Bulldogs high-flying offense scored the most points in a season (415) since 2018, and averaged an NSIC-high 37.7 points a game and league-high 54 touchdowns, while holding their opponents to an NSIC-low 293.9 yards a game. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Walljasper ran for 1,073 yards and 16 touchdowns, while passing for 1,580 yards and 22 TDs and added one touchdown reception. While leading the NSIC with his 16 rushing TDs across all positions, Walljasper also posted a league-best 9.3 points per game average over the entire season. Senior tight end Sam Pitz, graduate offensive lineman Treyvon Cahalan and graduate offensive lineman Arik Johnson were named NSIC All Conference First Team Offense selections, while redshirt senior linebacker Andrew Klopp, senior defensive lineman Drew Hennessey, senior defensive lineman Ethan Beffert and fifth-year senior defensive back Marcus Glodowski all earned NSIC All Conference First Team Defense accolades. Both senior kicker Curtis Cox and junior punter Logan Kobus were named NSIC All Conference First Team Special Teams selections. Three Bulldogs landed on NSIC All Conference Second Teams, including senior offensive lineman Aiden Williams and Walljasper, both Second Team Offense honorees, while graduate defensive back Tim Pokornowski picked up an NSIC All Conference Second Team Defense nod. Pitz and Cahalan were named to the 2023 D2Football.com Elite, D2 All-American Honorable Mention and Cahalan was named a 2023 AFCA Division II Coaches' Second Team All-American in early December after earning 2023 CCA All-Super Region 4 Second Team honors previously.  Cahalan was pivotal in UMD's rushing offense that led the NSIC and ranked seventh in the nation over the regular season, averaging 243.8 yards a game, and earned a NFL Rookie Camp try-out with the New Orleans Saints in May. Pitz, selected to the 2023 CCA All-Super Region 4 First Team, caught nine touchdowns passes in 2023, dwarfing his TD output of his first three seasons combined. Pitz had 25 receptions for 356 yards in 11 games -- good for a 14.2 yards per catch average.

Winter Teams

Men's Basketball: The Bulldogs capped off another historical season with a third consecutive appearance in the NSIC championship game and with a buzzer beater quarterfinal victory over Fort Hays State in their third consecutive NCAA regional appearance. Fifth year senior Drew Blair, who became the program's all time leading scorer at the beginning of the season, capped off a highly decorated career with UMD after being named to D2CCA's All-American second team and NABC's Division II All-American team, being named a finalist for Small College Basketball's Bevo Francis and Trevor Hudgins awards, and making an appearance at the NABC Division II All-Star Game in Evansville, Ind.

Women's Basketball: The Bulldogs finished off the 2023-24 season with a 19-10 overall record and a 14-8 conference record, falling in the semifinal round of the NSIC tournament to the University of Mary. An early season road victory over MSU Mankato helped power graduate student Taytum Rhoades and senior Ella Gilbertson to their first career NSIC All-Conference Team nominations. 

Men's Hockey: UMD was led offensively by sophomore forward Ben Steeves, who signed with the Florida Panthers of the NHL following the season. Steeves led the Bulldogs with 24 goals in 2023-24, including 13 power play tallies, which ranked second in the NCAA. Steeves was also fourth in game winning goals (6) and sixth in goals per game (.69). Senior defenseman Darian Gotz was crowned the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's 2023-24 Sportsmanship Award winner, the fourth UMD player to win the award in a decade. The Bulldogs also had 18 players earn NCHC Academic All-Conference honorees, including nine that were also bestowed the NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award. 

Women's Hockey: After an NCAA-high former Bulldogs were drafted in the historic first-ever PWHL Draft, UMD defied the rebuilding theme expected of the program and clawed its way back to its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament. UMD led the nation with 13 shutouts behind the goaltending duo of rookie Eve Gascon and Hailey MacLeod. Gascon, who posted the shutout in the NCAA First Round double overtime thriller, set the Bulldog rookie record for shutouts with seven on the season. UMD reached 21 or more wins for a third-straight year, going 21-13-4 overall. While Gascon and MacLeod were semifinalists for national Goalie of the Year, three players earned spots on All-WCHA Teams – MacLeod (Second Team), Nina Jobst-Smith (Third Team) and Gascon (Rookie Team.) Mannon McMahon, who netted UMD's overtime game-winning goal against the Huskies in March and set the program record for career games played and consecutive games played (173), was later drafted in June by the PWHL's Ottawa, one of two graduated Bulldogs in the 2024 draft taken.

Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field: The Bulldogs ran to multiple new school records and team records throughout their shining indoor season. School records in the women's 4x200m (1:45.28) and the men's 4x1600m (17:38.00) relays were set, as well as a new meet record at the Maverick Premier for the 800m (1:55.79) set by Finn Youberg. The Bulldogs would cap off the indoor season with a collection of all conference marks, including: Finn Youberg in the 800m (1:56.39), Nick Jacobson in the mile (4:14.59), Eli Bicek in the weight throw (18.67m), Savannah Schley in the 800m (2:13.48), Jacqi Rae in the shot put (13.73m), and the women's distance medley (11:52.57) comprised of Rachel Ulrich, Kate Fitzgerald, Savannah Schley, and Francine Seidel.

Spring Teams

Baseball: The Bulldogs capped off their 18-31 season with a dominant 5-2 win at home over the University of Mary. Veteran third baseman Gabe Richardson shined as the team's lone all conference selection, being named to the All-NSIC Second Team for his efforts throughout the year. Richardson had a productive season, sitting at first on the team and eighth in the NSIC for total hits (68), while also leading the team and slotting in at ninth in the NSIC for batting average (.384). He also led the Bulldogs from the plate with the most doubles (13) and the highest on-base percentage (.453), all while starting in 47 and appearing in 48 of the team's 49 games.

Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field: As a team, the Bulldog women finished fifth at the NSIC Track and Field Championships, while the men closed out the meet in ninth. Bicek's 14th place finish in the men's hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in late May tied a program national-high finish in the event, just weeks after he broke a UMD program record with a 60.5m toss at the NSIC Championships. Freshman Brady Johnson also set a UMD record in the 200 meters at the same meet, running a 21.26 and undoing a record that had stood for 18 years. On the women's side, fifth-year seniorJacqi Rae set a program record in the shot put on the same day of the NSIC Championship meet with a throw of 13.96 – in all, three program records fell that day for the two teams. Two runners were named CSC Academic All District team for the 2023-24 – junior Savannah Schley and fifth year senior Lucas Selman.

Softball: UMD went 41-15, overall, its second-straight season with 40 or more wins. The Bulldogs bowed out of the NSIC postseason in the championship game but not before they had inked plenty of program records. ??Senior pitcher Lauren Dixon took over UMD career marks for wins (74), games completed (81), starts by a pitcher (105), and innings pitched 659.1. Dixon and the rest of the Bulldog pitchers also set a team single-season record on April 26 against the University of Mary when freshman Mary Walsh secured the Bulldog pitching group its 340th strikeout with her third strikeout of the game in the top of the fourth inning – a record that UMD had just set in 2022 (339). UMD ended the season with a whopping 356 strikeouts on the season. Four UMD players garnered NSIC All-Conference honors, including Dixon, senior outfielder Kat Burkhardt and junior first baseman Nicole Schmitt earned NSIC All-Conference First Team, while Walsh garnered a spot on the NSIC All-Conference Second Team.

Tennis: Led by senior Shay Callaway, who went 5-5 in her single matches, the Bulldogs again put up a fight on the court. Abby Johnson earned three wins, and UMD earned a team victory against NSIC foe Bemidji State University on Feb. 18th on the road. The tennis team also took home the Team Impact award from the UMD athletic department for third-straight year after they accrued the highest average number of community service hours per team member.

CLASSROOM:

Graduate football offensive lineman Arik Johnson was named the 2024 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, the first Bulldog to earn the honor since 1998. The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 40th year, recognizes the NSIC's top male student-athlete -- UMD as a department has had four men earn the honor since 1988 and six women win the Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award, in its 39th year, presented to the NSIC's top female student-athlete.

–UMD women's hockey senior forward Clara Van Wieren was named the WCHA's Student-Athlete of the Year, the award presented annually to the league's top student-athlete who excels on the ice and in the classroom. It marked the second-straight season the Bulldogs had a player win the award.

–The student-athletes across all UMD athletic programs posted a cumulative GPA of 3.38 across this academic year. Helping to contribute to that number was the total GPA of all UMD athletes during the spring semester, which came in at 3.43 – the highest department GPA in three years. Volleyball ended up with the highest team GPA of all teams over the year with a 3.65 mark, while men's track and field had the highest year-long GPA among the men's teams with a 3.52. The team with the single-highest GPA on the year was the women's cross country team, who posted a whopping 3.79 GPA in the spring. The men's cross country team owned the highest-semester GPA among all teams, having earned a 3.61 GPA in the spring.

 –Senior softball pitcher Lauren Dixon was named a 2023-24 NSIC Women's Honor Student-Athlete Award winner, one of just 15 student athletes to earn the honor across the conference.

–The Bulldog athletic department had a total of 14 Myles Brand honorees – an honor bestowed upon senior NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, are exhausting their eligibility, and are on track to graduate after the season. UMD's 2023-23 Myles Brand honorees were – Grace Daak (volleyball), Lauren Dixon (softball), Chloey Evans (track and field), Ella Gilbertson (women's basketball), Julia Gronholz (softball), Jackie Jares (soccer), Cianna Selbitschka (volleyball), Madelyn Granica (women's basketball), Lauryn Renier (cross country/track and field), Justin Hull (football), Ethan Jauquet (football), Jack Middleton (men's basketball), Ted Rogers (cross country/track), and Lucas Selman (cross country/track).

–A total of 207 athletes across UMD's Division II sports earned NSIC All-Academic Team honors. 69 athletes accomplished the feat in the fall, with another 62 earning it in the winter and 76 in the spring. UMD also had 42 fall student athletes who were named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence, 38 winter student athletes to garner the accolade, and 45 spring athletes, which requires a student athlete to have a 3.60 cumulative GPA or higher. All student athletes that earned NSIC All-Academic Team membership had a 3.20 cumulative GPA or higher.

–Over on the Division I hockey side, the men's hockey team had 18 players earn NCHC Academic All-Conference honorees, including nine that were also bestowed the NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award, whale the women's team had 13 All-WCHA Academic Team selections, and eight players earned the coveted WCHA Scholar Athlete honor.

–11 women's hockey and three men's hockey student athletes were named 2023-24 Krampade Division I All-American Scholars for maintaining at least 3.75 GPA in each semester of the season. In addition to their academic achievements, players had to appear in at least 40% of their team's games. Junior defenseman Hanna Baskin, senior defenseman Paula Bergstrom, senior forward Katie Davis, freshman goaltender Ève Gascon, graduate forward Reece Hunt, senior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith, freshman defenseman Ida Karlsson, junior forward Jenna Lawry, redshirt sophomore Mary Kate O'Brien, freshman forward Grace Sadura, and senior forward Clara Van Wieren represented women's hockey, while sophomore defenseman Riley Bodnarchuk, freshman forward Braden Fischer and sophomore forward Ben Steeves all garnered the honor for men's hockey.

–Across all sports, UMD had 37 athletes earn CSC All-District academic honors, while four athletes earned CSC All-American status – Clara Van Wieren (women's hockey), Sam Pitz (football), Arik Johnson (football) and Ethan Beffert (football).

COMMUNITY: 

–UMD student athletes volunteered a total of 1,661 hours in 2023-24, attending 717 commitments. A total of 30 different organizations benefited from the Bulldogs community service outreach, with the Make A Wish foundation a top outreach of UMD athletes last year.