Minnesota Sports and Events Title IX Honor Roll

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – In her 30-year tenure as a head coach and the athletic director, Carol Howe-Veenstra helped pave the way for the success of future student-athletes in the College of Saint Benedict athletic department.
 
Though she officially retired from athletics following the 2014-15 school year, Howe-Veenstra has remained active with the Minnesota Coalition of Women in Athletic Leadership – as well as the CSB community – to continue to work for equity for women in sports around the state of Minnesota.
 

With the 50^th anniversary of Title IX coming up in 2022, the Minnesota Sports and Events group, with help from the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, are putting together a Title IX Championship Tour – and Howe-Veenstra is one of the many honorees.
 
Howe-Veenstra is one of 50 athletes, coaches, administrators, media and supporters selected to the Title IX Honor Roll for their contributions to women's athletics in Minnesota. The 50 individuals were selected by a committee formed by the Tucker Center. Howe-Veenstra is part of an impressive list that includes former Gopher basketball and current WNBA standout Rachael Banham, Star Tribune sports reporter Rachel Blount, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve and former Minnesota women's swimming coach Jean Freeman, among others.
 
In her 15 years as the head volleyball coach at Saint Benedict, Howe-Veenstra coached 10 All-Americans and guided CSB to 11 NCAA Tournaments – including six Sweet 16 appearances and a Final Four appearance in 1990. She was named MIAC Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1997 and Region Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1990. She received the Nell Jackson Administrator of the Year Award from Women Leaders in Sports in 2011.
 
As the school's athletic director, Howe-Veenstra pushed to create more opportunities for Bennie athletes. She started the school's varsity hockey program in the 1997-98 season, and was instrumental in the push for upgraded facilities and opportunities for all of the college's varsity teams. She was a Breaking Barriers Award recipient from at the 1996 National Girls and Women in Sport Day Minnesota celebration, and won a Special Merit Award from the committee in 2002. Under her watch, the CSB athletic department finished in the top three in the MIAC All-Sport race 18 times, including first-place finishes in the 1994-95 and 1998-99 seasons.
 
Along with the 50 Title IX Honor Roll members, Minnesota Sports and Events is recognizing 11 female athletes from Minnesota to be featured on the Land O'Lakes Title IX Championship Tour bus, which will make stops at various events throughout the fall and leading up to the 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four April 1 and 3 at the Target Center.