BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Twelve Saint Benedict swim & dive student-athletes earned 2025-26 Winter Academic All-MIAC recognition on Thursday, June 25.

CSB ranked third in the MIAC in female honorees for winter and spring, following Gustavus Adolphus (114) and St. Olaf (99). Saint Benedict finished third in the conference in overall female honorees with a total of 137, behind St. Olaf (156) and Gustavus Adolphus (149). The Bennies had 39 fall honorees in cross country, soccer and volleyball.

Those honored (listed alphabetically) include:

-Senior Jayda Alholm (Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls Community), an elementary education major with a 3.93 GPA; 
-Senior Megan Bartels (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), an exercise and health science major with a 3.76 GPA; 
-Junior Claire Canfield (Waconia, Minn.), a chemistry major with a 3.69 GPA; 
-Junior Josey Jackson (Mandan, N.D.), a data science major with a 3.53 GPA; 
-Junior Ella Kowalczyk (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest), a nursing major with a 3.60 GPA; 
-Sophomore Autumn Larson (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd), a biochemistry major with a 4.0 GPA; 
-Junior Mary Morris (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), a biochemistry major with a 3.92 GPA; 
-Sophomore Emma Netland (Moorhead, Minn.), a biology major with a 3.56 GPA; 
-Sophomore Ava Niksich (Hermantown, Minn.) a nursing major with a 3.97 GPA; 
-Senior Lauren Sitzman (Omaha, Neb./North Magnet), a biology and environmental studies double-major with a 3.72 GPA; 
-Sophomore Abby Stevens (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo), an exercise and health science major with a 3.51 GPA; 
-Senior Morgan Stout (Des Moines, Iowa/East), a psychology and mathematics double-major with a 3.50 GPA.

Student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior academically with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale to qualify for Academic All-MIAC recognition. Transfers, like first-years, must complete a full academic year to be eligible the following season. 

Athletically, student-athletes must be a member of a MIAC-sponsored, varsity team and be academically and athletically eligible. The student-athlete must have utilized a season of participation (per NCAA and MIAC definitions) and have remained on the sports roster through the conclusion of the sports season.

The Academic All-MIAC honor is the third for Bartels and Sitzman and second for Alholm and Canfield. 

Three of the honorees – Alholm, Morris and Bartels – were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District swim & dive team April 15.

The Bennies finished fifth out of nine teams Feb. 11-14 at the 2026 MIAC Championships and 29th out of 44 teams March 18-21 at the NCAA Division III Championships. CSB collected the program's highest conference meet point total (467) since 2011-12 (478) and won eight conference titles. Junior Haley Zelen (Shakopee, Minn.) earned All-America honors with a runner-up finish in the 100-yard butterfly, the highest finish by any Bennie swimmer at the national meet. She was named the MIAC Women's Swimmer of the Year after breaking eight program records and winning six MIAC titles. Saint Benedict head coach Mandy Wolvert was honored as the MIAC Coach of the Year after coaching her athletes to 13 All-MIAC and honorable mention honors, the most since 1998-99.