ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Across the board, the College of Saint Benedict athletic teams relied heavily on young talent during the 2014-15 school year.
The Blazers' rosters featured 95 total first years in all sports this past season. Most notably, the CSB softball team featured 12 first years, the basketball team had 10 first-year student-athletes on its roster, and the track and field team alone boasted 25 first years.
Those 95 first years earned 11 MIAC honors throughout the year, ranging from All-MIAC accolades to All-MIAC Honorable Mention or a spot on the All-MIAC First Year Team.
Of those 95 first years, however, one athlete excelled above and beyond the traditional standards for a first-year college athlete.
Megan Sundstrom was one of the 25 first years on the Blazer track and field roster in 2015, but, as one coach noted, she put up "senior-year" numbers and accomplishments. The Proctor, Minn., native, scored in every event she competed in for the Blazers at the MIAC indoor and outdoor championships, and made her mark on the school's record books after just one year with the program.
For her stellar first year, Sundstrom has been named the Blazers' Rookie of the Year for 2015. Other nominees included: Brooke DeMets (soccer); Brigette Miller (hockey); Bailey O'Hotto and Sara Wennerstrand (softball); Kenzie Young (swimming);
Niki Fokken (basketball and track and field);
Natalie Frier (track and field) and
Brooke Rasmussen and
Olivia Dengel (cross country and track and field).
Sundstrom's strong season started with CSB's indoor season. At the conference meet, she was part of the championship distance medley relay team, and she also scored points for the Blazers after finishing seventh in the pentathlon and eighth in the triple jump. She was a part of 13 of CSB's 69 points, and scored more points than one team at the conference indoor championships.
It was during the outdoor season that Sundstrom really hit her groove, though. After helping the Blazers win three meets, Sundstrom shone at the conference outdoor championships. She helped give CSB a head start by finishing fourth in the heptathlon and scoring five points for the Blazers.
A week later, Sundstrom added to her total when she finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles, sixth in the triple jump and was part of the sixth-place 1,600-meter relay squad. She finished the weekend with 13 points individually – more than two teams at the conference meet – and 16 total points.
After one season with the Blazer track team, Sundstrom already has a conference relay title, three individual All-MIAC Honorable Mention accolades and one relay honorable mention honor to her name. She also owns the third-best 400 hurdle time (64.51) and heptathlon score (4,116) and seventh-best 200-meter time (25.98) and triple jump mark (10.83) in school history. To wrap up her first year, Sundstrom was named the Most Valuable Track and Field athlete by her peers.
