ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Six Saint Benedict cross country/track and field student-athletes were named to the 2025-26 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team on Tuesday, June 23. 

The six Bennies honored, in alphabetical order, were senior Jaylyn Ahlberg (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View), sophomore Allison Banse (Mankato, Minn./West), senior Lauren Berg (Bemidji, Minn.), senior Mary Kenney (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge), junior Bella Lund (Mound, Minn./Mound Westonka) and junior Taylor Radaich (Prior Lake, Minn./Lakeville South).

Each institution may nominate up to six student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in cross country/track and field. Nominees must be a sophomore or older with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. Athletically, nominees must have either finished in the top 50 of their respective NCAA Regional in cross country or achieved a top-50 regional ranking in an individual event in indoor or outdoor track and field. 

All six honorees earned All-MIAC (top three) or All-MIAC honorable mention (places fourth-sixth) honors during the 2025-26 academic year. 

The CSC Academic All-District honor is the third-straight for Ahlberg and second for Berg and Kenney.

Ahlberg graduated last month with a 3.68 GPA in exercise and health science. She graduated a five-time MIAC champion and an six-time All-MIAC honoree in the pole vault. She was the MIAC's indoor champion, finished third at the conference outdoor meet and totaled 13 top-five finishes in her senior season. Ahlberg qualified for the 2024 NCAA outdoor championships where she finished 18th. She finished her career with 17 event wins in the pole vault. Ahlberg is expected to earn her second Academic All-MIAC honor (minimum 3.5 GPA) later this week. 

A nursing major with a 3.61 GPA, Banse collected her first All-MIAC honor this season with a third-place finish in the indoor shot put. She was honorable mention in the shot put at the conference outdoor meet with a toss of 12.55 meters. She threw a personal-best 12.88 meters a meet earlier at St. Thomas to finish 22nd in the region. She also owned CSB's best discus throw this season, a toss of 37.00 meters, also at the UST Invite. A two-sport athlete, Banse was named Academic All-MIAC with the volleyball team in the fall and is expected to collect her second honor later this week.

Berg graduated with a 3.71 GPA in biology. She ended her career as a second team All-American in the 400-meter hurdles with a 15th-place finish in the event at the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Berg broke her own school-record and earned All-Region honors in the 400-hurdles with a time of 1:01.49 at the MIAC outdoor meet where she finished second. She earned All-MIAC honorable mention honors in CSB's outdoor 4x400-meter relay (fourth), indoor 600 meters (fourth), indoor 800 meters (fifth) and indoor 4x400-meter relay (fifth).

Berg finished her career with 16 All-MIAC and honorable mention accolades. She won 27 titles, finished second 16 times and had 76 top-four finishes individually or as a member of a relay. In the 400-meter hurdles, she had 22 top-four finishes, winning the event seven times with a dozen top-two finishes.

She will earn her third Academic All-MIAC honor later this week. A member of the student health assistants program, Berg has served on the SJU EMT squad, the Blackduck, Minn. ambulance crew and has worked in the Sanford Bemidji Medical emergency room and the St. Cloud Hospital. She is scheduled to leave for Tanzania in September for seven months of volunteer work.

Lund is an accounting and finance double-major with a 4.0 GPA. She earned All-MIAC honorable mention honors with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash. She was the top sprinter for the Bennies this season, owning CSB's best times in the 100-meter (12.17) and 200-meter (25.61) dashes. She set the school record in the 100-meter at the league's outdoor meet, breaking the previous mark of 12.18 set by Erin Sand in 2012. 

Kenney graduated in May with a 3.90 GPA in nursing. She concluded her career as the MIAC champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10;56.27), setting a school record and earning All-Region honors along the way. Kenney was CSB cross country's top runner in five of the six races this fall and earned All-MIAC honorable mention honors in the 5,000 meters (fourth) at the conference outdoor meet. She will earn her sixth Academic All-MIAC honor (three for cross country, three for track) later this week and has been named USTFCCCA All-Academic four times. A member of the Chi Alpha Sigma honor society, she also volunteered at Anna Marie's Alliance (support for individuals experiencing relationship abuse), the Success Academy (Somali K-8 school) and the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees (CAIRO). 

A nutrition and English double-major with a 3.95 GPA, Radaich earned her fourth All-MIAC honor with the CSB 4x800-meter relay at the MIAC Outdoor Championships this spring. She was honorable mention in the indoor 4x400-meter relay (fifth), outdoor 800 meters (sixth) and indoor distance medley relay (sixth). Radaich also set personal-bests in the 800 (2:14.69) and 1,500 meters (4:49.58) this outdoor season.

The CSB track & field team finished fifth out of 12 teams at both the 2026 MIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Berg became CSB's first NCAA qualifier since Ahlberg and Fiona Smith in 2024. She earned All-America second team honors in the 400-meter hurdles.