LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The College of Saint Benedict softball team put 18 student-athletes on the Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Scholar-Athlete list, announced by the organization Wednesday, Aug. 12. The 18 honorees ties the program record set a season ago. 

 

Seniors Ellie Peterson (St. Anthony Village, Minn./St. Anthony Village), Bryn Ruhberg (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), Cat Smetana (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater) and Olivia Wallace (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) highlighted the long list of Bennies after collecting the honor for the fourth time. Seniors Olivia Van Hout (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) and Sammy Muetzel (Woodbury, Minn.-Cretin-Derham Hall) and junior Olivia Laudenbach (St. Cloud, Minn.-St. Cloud Tech) received the award for the third time.  

 

Logging the honor for the second consecutive season were sophomores Anna Corbid (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area), Lauren Freeberg (Rogers, Minn./Rogers), Izzy Guttenfelder (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka), Maddy Orth (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North), Izzy Radel (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) and Lily Treml (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee). 

 

First-years Adison Border (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), Elizabeth Gross (Pierz, Minn./Healy), Josi Ordorff (Monticello, Minn./Monticello), Kaitlyn Pink (Delano, Minn./Delano) and Rachel Stone (Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount) all earned the first academic honor of their young careers. 

 

To receive the honor, a student-athlete must have earned at least a 3.5 GPA for the 2025-26 academic year. In total, 2,491 NCAA Division III student-athletes earned scholar-athlete status. The MIAC had 152 student-athletes earn the honor, led by 21 from St. Olaf College. 

 

Led by head coach Rachael Click, Sant Ben's posted one of the best seasons in program history in 2026. Click guided her team to a 36-11 record, tied for the most wins in a season in program history, and the most since the 2018 team finished with a 36-10 record. CSB's 21-1 record in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play marked the best record all-time, leading the Bennies to their fourth MIAC regular season championship. Additionally, Saint Benedict captured its first-ever MIAC Playoff Championship, securing the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament appearance brought CSB's total to seven. The Bennies finished the season in the NCAA regional championship. With 31 wins, Saint Ben's ran its record to 13 consecutive full seasons with 20+ wins and fourth all-time with 30+ victories.