INDIANAPOLIS – After five years of academic and athletic success matched by her inspirational leadership, senior Maggie Beckmann of the College of Saint Benedict Track and Field Team has been named CSB's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year.

Beckmann was among 227 from NCAA DIII and 619 female student-athletes across the three divisions nominated for the national honor. The group included 24 from different sports across the divisions. Since 1991, the award has recognized graduating female student-athletes excellence in four pillars of academic, athletics, community service and leadership.

The NCAA selection committee will choose the Top 30 honorees (10 from each division) to be announced in October, with the top three finalists from each division to be announced in November. The 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award ceremony will take place at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix in January 2024.

This spring, Beckmann was named CSB's Presidential Award honoree after her excellence in competition, in the classroom, as a selfless and inspiring leader. Beckmann, who has been on the Dean's List in 2021 and 2022, has a 3.5 GPA in biology with a minor of philosophy.

 

Beckmann's list of academic honors includes USTFCCCA All-Academic in 2022, Academic All-MIAC, 2022 Chi Sigma Alpha Inductee and Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day Spotlight Scholar.

A team captain for track and field, Beckmann has been active at CSB as a member of the Chamber Choir since 2018 and a Pre-Dental Club member since 2018 while also serving on the Q+ (Queer Proud Lavender Union for Students). In competition, Maggie has stepped up in a big way. She is an inspiring team leader as shown through her mentorship as a captain for track and field and her example in competition as well as in the classroom.

This spring she set school records in the discus and weight throw while also owning the school record in the hammer throw. Beckmann was All-MIAC in the weight throw in 2023 indoors and earned All-MIAC in the weight throw in 2022. In addition, she was an All-MIAC honorable mention in the discus in 2022.  During the 2023 MIAC Outdoor Championship, Beckman earned a pair of honorable mention All-MIAC performances as she placed fourth in the hammer throw at 46.46m – 152-05, which was the second best in her career and a top-five throw in program history. In fact, she also had a throw of 46.45 - 152-04 on her final throw of the afternoon with both marks surpassing the previous facility record of 44.76m by Madison Reed of Hamline on April 15, 2023. Additionally, she was fifth in the discus by tossing the oval 38.25m – 125-06, which was her second best of the season and a program top 10 mark. 

She was a three-time recipient of CSB Track and Field's Most Valuable Field Athlete in 2021, 2022 and 2003. She earned Athlete of the Week honors on Feb. 15, 2021, and earned the CSB Most Improved Field Athlete in 2020.

A servant leader at Saint Benedict, Beckmann worked with the "Around Cloud Tutors" program, a virtual effort for St. Cloud Area High School from fall of 2020 to spring of 2022. She virtually tutored high school students in STEM subjects during the school year for over 80 hours. Additionally, she worked with other member of the Pre-Dental Club leadership team to create events for pre-dental students about the dental field and how to dental school. She has a big heart as shown by going on a Guatemala Mission in 2018 to San Lucas Oliman to assist in building a school.

Beckmann, who loves arts and crafts, music, lifting weights, water sports and nail art, has a strong belief in social justice.

"She has a bigger-than-life personality and it's contagious. Her positivity and passion permeate through our whole team. She takes as much joy out of any of her teammate's success as she does her own," said CSB Head Coach of Track and Field Robin Balder-Lanoue. "She's the first to congratulate someone who just set a school record or had a great race. She's so excited about what she's doing every single day and she carries that excitement into each meet we compete in."

Beckmann, who received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in May 2022, has been focused on going to dental school. Inspired by her uncle, Maggie has had a lifelong passion for dentistry. "I love dentistry," said Beckmann, whose parents, Jim and Lisa, and brother Michael attended CSB or SJU.

"My time at CSB/SJU has fundamentally changed me for the better. The opportunities presented by a CSB/SJU education have allowed me to flourish academically and personally," said Beckmann. "I have been able to grow as a leader, who values empathy and compassion; as the chamber choir social chair for three years, the pre-dental club secretary for two years and as a track and field captain for the last two years, I have grown and learned important lessons about who I am. In my time here, an important part of my growth has come from becoming a part of a community, and I have worked to become a representative of the CSB community of excellence in and out of the classroom."