ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Six Saint Benedict student-athletes were named to the 2025-26 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District at-large team on Tuesday, June. 16.

The six Bennies honored were senior hockey defender Jamie Bimberg (Chanhassen, Minn.), junior lacrosse midfielder Tess Cavanaugh (Edina, Minn./Visitation), sophomore hockey defender Merrill Delich (Andover, Minn.), sophomore lacrosse midfielder Lilly Fandel Thompson (St. Louis Park, Minn.), senior golfer Catherine Jance (Hopkins, Minn.) and junior hockey forward Shae Stinnett (North Oaks, Minn./Hill-Murray).

Each institution may nominate up to six student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in the at-large category, which includes women's beach volleyball, bowling, crew/rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, water polo and wrestling. 

Nominees must be a sophomore or older with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. Athletically, golf nominees must have competed in 75 percent of the team's total varsity events that were team scoring events or have been in the lineup at the conference championship. Hockey and lacrosse nominees must have competed in 90 percent of the team's total games or have started 66 percent of the total. 

The CSC honor is the second-straight for Jance and Bimberg. Jance and Bimberg are expected to receive Academic All-MIAC recognition (minimum 3.5 GPA) for a third time later this month, while Stinnett will receive her second and Delich her first. Cavanaugh and Fandel Thompson are expected to be named to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll (minimum 3.0 GPA) for a second season.

Jance graduated in May with a 3.92 GPA in biochemistry and biology. She was the 2025-26 MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient in golf for having the highest cumulative GPA among the student-athletes who finished in the top 10 at the MIAC Championships in October. Jance earned All-MIAC honors with a ninth-place finish at the MIAC Championships and was an at-large All-MIAC selection at the end of the 2024-25 season. 

She totaled six top-10 performances and four in the top five in her senior season and ranked fifth in the conference with a 77.7 scoring average in 15 rounds. Jance boasted the seventh-best national ranking in the MIAC (No. 144) and set the program record for 18-hole (71) and 36-hole (143) scores in her final year of competition.

Jance graduated a two-time Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar (2024-25 and 2025-26). She was awarded the CSB+SJU Chemistry Department Award for Distinction in Chemical Reactivity and is a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma honor society. 

The Bennie golf team finished fourth out of 10 teams at the 2025 MIAC Championships in October. The fourth-place finish was the program's best since 2018 and the three-round 962 (329-309-320) was the team's best since 2017. CSB finished third or better in three of its eight tournaments and ranked fourth in the MIAC with a 318.1 team average in 15 rounds. The Bennies broke the school record for 18-hole team score (302) and 36-hole team score (611) at the St. Catherine Invite in September. 

Bimberg joined Jance at graduation with a 3.98 GPA in accounting and finance. She became the first CSB hockey student-athlete to earn the MIAC Elite 22 Award for boasting the highest cumulative GPA on the active postseason roster of a playoff-qualifying team. Bimberg helped CSB secure the program's first MIAC Playoff Championship and berth to the NCAA Tournament. 

She played in all 28 of the Bennies' games in her senior season and totaled a career-best six points (1g/5a). She ended her career with 11 points (3g/8a) in 89 games played. Bimberg earned American Hockey Coaches' Association (AHCA) All-American Scholar distinction (minimum 3.75 GPA) in each of her seasons and graduated with a full-time audit and assurance position at Deloitte.

A finance and economics double-major with a 3.92 GPA, Delich was the Bennies' lone selection to the All-MIAC team after totaling 14 points (4g/10a) in 28 games from the blue line this season. A two-sport student-athlete, Delich also played in all 13 of CSB lacrosse's games this season. 

An accounting and finance double major with a 3.93 GPA, Stinnett ranked second on the team in scoring with 18 points (10g/8a). Her 10 goals tied for second, while her eight assists tied for third. She recorded five multi-point games in her junior season and scored seven of her 10 goals in the final six games of the season. Stinnett earned MIAC All-Playoff honors after scoring the first and last goals in a 4-2 win at No. 7 Hamline in the semifinals. Stinnett will earn her third AHCA All-American Scholar and second Academic All-MIAC honor this summer and has 37 points (19g/18a) in 78 career games. 

CSB (16-8-4, 9-6-3 MIAC) won the MIAC Playoff Championship for the first time in program history in 2025-26. The Bennies advanced to their first NCAA Division III Tournament, where they fell to No. 3 Amherst (Mass.) in 2-1 in overtime. 

Individually, first-year goaltender Lexi Badali (Lake Central/St. John, Ind.) became the program's first All-American, earning first-team honors from DIIIHockeyNews.com. The Bennies finished No. 15 in the DIIIHockeyNews.com rankings, the first national ranking in program history.

CSB ended the season in the top 25 in eight statistical categories: ninth in short-handed goals (4); 21st in goals (76) and scoring offense (2.71 gpg); 22nd in winning percentage (0.643);  23rd in assists (104) and team points (180); and 24th in scoring margin (+0.82) and team shutouts (4). 

An economics major with a 4.0 GPA, Cavanaugh totaled 10 points (7g/3a) in 13 games for CSB lacrosse this season. She was named to the WIAC All-Sportsmanship in 2025 and the MWLC Sportsmanship Award in 2024. She has 28 points (20g/8a) in 43 career games. 

A global business leadership major with a 3.94 GPA, Fandel Thompson played and started in all 13 of CSB's games this season. She ranked fifth on the team in scoring (21 goals), while her 28 points (21g/7a) were sixth. Fandel Thompson has 43 points (29g/14a) in 30 career-games. 

The Bennies (6-7, 4-4 WIAC) finished fifth in the WIAC and earned their second-consecutive berth to the conference playoffs where they fell to UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals. Five players earned All-WIAC honors and first-year midfielder Rayna Malmberg (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) was named the WIAC Newcomer of the Year.