ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – During 2023-24, the College of Saint Benedict athletic department had a year of success and celebration while making history in nearly every sport.

Leading the way was 10 CSB "Athlete of the Year" nominees, who contributed significantly to the success of teams in exhibiting leadership while excelling in competition as well as the classroom. This group includes six total All-Americans, four conference athletes of the year, four individual national titles, and 18 all-conference honors. The award nominees include Corrine Brown, hockey; Emma Guest, volleyball; Chloe Lewis, lacrosse; Carla Meyer, basketball; Emily Renner, golf; Fiona Smith, cross country and track and field; Ashley Tarrolly, tennis; Olivia Tautges, softball; Emi Wagner, swim and dive and Abby Willenbring, soccer. The award recipient will be announced on Friday, June 21.

With this group of student-athletes serving as leaders for their respective teams, Saint Benedict finished second in the MIAC All-Sports Competition as teams set a high standard of success. The CSB lacrosse team won a second straight MLC title and softball captured its first MIAC title since 1994. Saint Ben's finished second in volleyball and indoor track and field while placing third in outdoor track and field. CSB was fourth in soccer, fifth in golf and basketball, and sixth in tennis, hockey and swim and dive.

Here are the nominees for CSB "Athlete of the Year" listed alphabetically and by program.

Corrine Brown - Hockey
A nursing major from St. Paul, Minn., Corrine Brown of the CSB Hockey Team scored 20 points and led the Bennies to an 11-12-2 record, including 7-9-2 in MIAC play for sixth place. A two-time team captain, Brown led CSB with 13 assists, which ranked ninth in the MIAC (0.52 apg ranked 10th, MIAC). She also had seven goals and scored 20 points, which was tied for 15th in the MIAC.

 

During the season, she set a school record for a game with five assists in an 8-0 win over Dubuque to break the record of four assists by seven others in program history. In a sweep of Dubuque, she totaled eight assists as she joined only Anna Richardson (2002) in school history to reach that mark over a two-game span.

In her final four games of her career, she scored a goal in each game and twice totaled four points as the Bennies won three of four. Brown earned her second MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor of her career in December. This season, she finished with three game-winning goals, which ranks in the season top 10.  

Emma Guest - Volleyball
Emma Guest, a two-time All-MIAC honoree and business major from Oak Grove, Minn. Guest was named CSC Academic All-District and Academic All-MIAC. In 2023, she registered double doubles seven times while leading CSB with 266 kills (2.63/set, 12th in the MIAC) on 897 attacks.

 

Guest ranked 12th in the MIAC with 43 service aces, including a high of five against St. Scholastica on Sept 30, 2023. She totaled 316 digs, including reaching double-digits 16 times, and 24 total blocks. Guest was 12th in the MIAC with 321.5 points. Guest, who hit a career-best .542 vs. Saint Mary's on Sept. 29, 2023, had 11 double-digit kills totals in the 2023 season.

Lacrosse – Chloe Lewis

Sophomore Chloe Lewis, a pre-law major from Brooklyn Park, Minn., was one of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference's top defensive players and earned her second straight All-MLC first-team honor. Twice, Lewis was named MLC Defensive Player of the Week. She had a 9-4-0, including 5-0-0 in league play, in 2024.

She had a season-high 18 saves in both the 19-9 playoffs win over Hamline and a 15-14 loss to Lake Forest College in the MLC Championship as she had seven double-digit saves total for the season, including in each of the final six games of the season.

In the MLC, she ranked third in saves with 150 with a 50.0 save percentage. She was in goal for 840.00 minutes with a 10.71 goals allowed average. 

Carla Meyer - Basketball

Meyer, a senior nursing major from New Brighton, Minn., averaged 14.3 points (371 points) for third in the MIAC with her 3.6 assists (93 total) ranking second in the league in leading the Bennies to a 15-11 record and 12-8 in the MIAC, earning another playoff berth.  She also averaged 5.2 rebounds per game (135) for 15^th in the MIAC.

Meyer earned her first-ever MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor on Dec. 4, 2023, after averaging 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Saint Mary's on Nov. 29 and Hamline on Dec. 2. This past season, she had a high of 23 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 3. Meyer finished the season with 23 double-digit scoring games as earned her third All-MIAC honor while also being selected to the All-MIAC Playoff Team. 

Emily Renner – Golf

A senior accounting major from Victoria, Minn., Renner led her CSB Golf Team to a fifth place finish at the MIAC Championship in fall 2023. She placed first at two tournaments and eighth at the MIAC Championship while holding the MIAC player low round record for this season with a 69. She received Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-Central Region 3 honors. Renner is the fifth CSB golfer to earn WGCA All-Region honors.

Earlier this spring, Renner was named to the MIAC All-Conference Team for the fourth straight year. She is the third student-athlete at Saint Ben's to earn four All-MIAC honors. Renner along with St. Catherine's Jaycee Rhodes, and St. Olaf's Bergen Senf earned All-MIAC honors for the fourth time, a feat achieved by just 22 women's golfers in conference history.

As one of the MIAC's lowest 10 individual scorers (including ties) at the tournament, Renner earned All-Championship Team honors. She concluded the fall season with the sixth-best individual scoring average in the league at 77.1.  

In 2023-24, she recorded six top-15 finishes and won two different tournaments including the UW-Eau-Claire Georgianna Blugold Invite with a six-over par 150 (73-77). She also won medalist honors at the St. Kate's Fall Invite where she carded a 147 (69-78), which included a school-record best round of three-under par, 69.  She was also fourth at the BU Rumble at the Ridge this spring with her round of 77.  At the D3 Classic on Sept. 18, 2023, Renner set CSB's 36-hole record, shooting a two-day total of 146. The previous 36-hole record of 149 was shot by All-American golfer Kathryn Hauff in 2010. Renner's rounds of 75 and 71 put her tied for second individually. 

Fiona Smith – Track and Field/Cross Country
Fiona Smith of the CSB Track and Field/ Cross Country, won four NCAA DIII individual titles (XC, 3K, 5K, 10K) & seven MIAC titles during the 2023-24 season. Smith earned five All-American honors in 2023-24 as well as being named to her third straight College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District honor.

 

Smith, a mathematics and Hispanic studies from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, had an amazing senior season in 2023-24, culminating her career by winning the 10,000-meters and placing third in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA DIII Track and Field Outdoor Championships. She repeated as the 3,000- and 5,000-meter DIII national individual champion (first ever in MIAC or NCAA DIII history) at the indoor nationals and also won the DIII cross country title last fall. Smith is one of five in MIAC history to win at least five individual national track and field titles. Add in her cross country title in the fall of 2023, and she is one of three in MIAC history to capture six or more national DIII individual titles (Julia Kirtland, eight titles, 1984-87; Kelly Copps, six titles, 1993-95). During the outdoor season, she set school records in the 5,000-meter (15:53.27 - fourth best in DIII history) and 10,000-meter (32:57.28 - 2nd all-time in DIII) in addition to the 1,500-meter (4:25.51). Indoors, she set the school record in the 3,000-meter (9:23.40 - fourth fastest in DIII) and 5,000-meter (15:50.48 - fastest all-time in DIII history)

Named the recipient of the USTFCCCA North Region Track Athlete of the Year honor, Smith was named the MIAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the first time in program history. She was honored after winning the rare triple of the 1,500-meter, 5,000-meters and 10,000 meters at the MIAC Championship on May 10-11 in St. Paul. In the 1,500 and 5,000-meter runs, she established conference championship records. She earned four USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week honors in cross country and track and field  and was named USTFCCCA All-Region in seven events. She was also named the Honda NCAA DIII Athlete of the Year finalist for cross country.
 
Ashley Tarrolly - Tennis
Ashley Tarrolly of CSB Tennis, an accounting major from St. Cloud, Minn., earned All-MIAC honors at No. 1 singles for a second straight year and was All-MIAC in doubles (Sophia Jonas). Named CSC Academic All-District, Tarrolly was the MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient, the 10th all-time at St. Ben's.
 

Tarrolly was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team for a second straight year. In 2023-24, Tarrolly, was a major contributor on the CSB tennis team which finished the regular season at 7-10 and 5-5 in the MIAC. CSB made its third straight appearance in the MIAC Postseason Tournament. On May 7, Tarrolly earned All-MIAC singles honors for a second straight year, and she also earned her first doubles honor. Additionally, she was also honored on the All-MIAC Playoff Team for the first-time. In 2024, she finished 8-6, including 5-5 in the MIAC, at No. 1 singles and 8-6 (7-3 in the MIAC) at No. 1 doubles this season. Last fall, Tarrolly was ranked second in the ITA Regionals and won 2-of-3 matches at that competition.

Olivia Tautges – Softball
Named the Minnesota Intercollege Athletic Conference (MIAC) Player of the Year, Tautges became the third straight student-athlete from the CSB softball team to earn National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American honors. Tautges, who was named to the third team on the NFCA NCAA DIII All-American team, is the Bennies' fifth All-American in softball history.  She helped lead CSB to a 26-19 record, including winning a share of the conference regular season title at 17-5. In addition, her play was pivotal as CSB advanced to the NCAA DIII regional championship for the fourth time in program history.

 

With the MIAC honor, CSB has earned the MIAC Player of the Year three straight seasons. Tautges was named to the all-tourney team at the regional. A sophomore from Brainerd, Minn., Tautges joins Gabby Spencer (2022, 2023) and 2014 recipient Lexi Alm as CSB players to receive the MIAC Player of the Year award. During 2024, Tautges was the first softball player at CSB to earn three All-MIAC weekly honors in a single season and she was also named the NCAA DIII Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Softball Association (NFCA) Player of the Week on April 9. In 2024, Tautges put together one of the best offensive seasons in school history. She led CSB with a .400 batting average and had 1.271 OPS. In 41 starts, she had 52 hits with 38 runs, 10 doubles and drew 12 walks.

Tautges, who had a team-high 22-game hitting streak this season, registered a team-best 15 multi-hit games, including six games with three hits and another with four base knocks. She also had a team-best 14 multi-RBI games with six games with three or more and another with four RBI. Individually, she set school season records with 15 home runs, 47 RBI and 107 total bases with her .823 slugging mark second all-time at CSB. Tautges led the MIAC in slugging, OPS, home runs, RBI and ranked second in runs scored and was fifth in hits and ninth in doubles. In MIAC play only, Tautges led the conference in hitting (.515), slugging (1.015), on-base percentage (.570), OPS (1.585), RBI (30), home runs (9), runs scored (T-1^st, 25) and hits (T-1^st, 35).  

Emi Wagner – Swim and Dive

Emi Wagner of the CSB Swim and Dive Team, a senior dentistry major from St. Cloud, Minn.,recorded 19 top-8 finishes; earned All-MIAC in the 50 free & 200 free relay while being part of an all-time record in the 200 medley relay in 2023-24.

Wagner was part of four top-10 program marks during the MIAC Championship. By clocking the second-best 50-yard freestyle clocking in program history of 23.93, Wagner had her second straight All-MIAC performance in the event. Wagner. Her 50-yard freestyle ranks only behind Steph Bierman's 23.71 in 2013. The 200-yard freestyle relay team clocked a 1:37.43 for second place in picking up All-MIAC honors and the fourth-best time in school history. Wagner, who also placed sixth individually in the 100-yard freestyle with a clocking of 54.16 in the finals (54.09 in the prelims), helped the Bennies place sixth (376 points) in the team standings.

Anchored by Wagner, the Bennies also took sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:37.29, a mark that ranks 10th all-time at CSB. In the 400-yard medley relay, Wagner helped CSB finish sixth with the sixth-best mark in school history of 4:01.64.  
 
Soccer - Abby Willenbring –
Abby Willenbring of CSB soccer team is a two-time All-MIAC honoree and United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, Willenbring was also selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for a second straight year. 

A starter in all 18 of CSB's games, Willenbring, of Lino Lakes, Minn., who majored in accounting, was the Team MVP, as she recorded a team-high 15 points (12th, MIAC) with a team-high six goals (9th, MIAC) and three assists. She led CSB to a 9-6-3 record and 6-3-2 in the MIAC and a playoff berth.

Willenbring had team-highs in shots on goal with 26 (13th, MIAC) and shots with 47 (13th, MIAC). In 11 league games, she tallied five goals and two assists with 16 shots on goal and had two of her team-high three game-winning shots (8th, MIAC). In her career, she has played in 60 games, including 59 starts, totaling 4,321 minutes.