Hall of Fame
“When I think of my time at CSB and my experiences playing sports I can’t do it without an ear-to-ear grin on my face.” Colleen Neary said, “That must be why my parents always say that when I talk about Saint Ben’s, I seem to glow.”
Colleen has loads of good reasons to glow with all of the accomplishments that she achieved during her academic and athletic career, while competing on the Blazer soccer team.
Colleen came to the College of Saint Benedict in 1989 and graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of arts degree while majoring in English and secondary education. She was awarded many academic scholarships during her collegiate career and graduated with a 3.4 grade-point average. In 1991, she was named Academic All-MIAC.
Colleen will be most remembered not only for academic excellence, but also her athletic achievements. Her awards and accomplishments during her soccer career were so plentiful, fitting them in to a single paragraph is nearly impossible. Colleen stepped right into the Saint Ben’s soccer program her first year, and achieved All-MIAC honorable mention honors. It was evident she was destined for greatness. She then was named All- MIAC her next three seasons on the team, and was voted the team captain in the 1991 and 1992 seasons. She was also the team’s most valuable in those same two years. However, Colleen’s two most prestigious awards were being selected as the MIAC’s most valuable player, while earning All-American First Team honors in 1991.
As of 2004, Colleen’s name can still be found more than once among the top names of the CSB soccer record holders. She was in third place at Saint Ben’s for most goals in a season (15) and second all-time in both career goals scored (47) and career points scored (111).
Colleen completed her master’s degree at the College of St. Scholastica and as of 2004 worked at Anoka High School. She was the Link Crew Coordinator for the Student Mentorship Program and the advisor for Anoka’s high school yearbook.
She is currently living in Stanchfield, Minn.
