Top Stories of 2025 in Ole Athletics

479 athletic events. Two MIAC regular-season titles. Nine MIAC Playoff teams. Six NCAA team appearances. 41 All-America accolades. 105 All-MIAC accolades. Nine MIAC Player of the Year awards. Four MIAC Coach of the Year honors. 18 individual MIAC champions. Three College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans. 269 Academic All-MIAC honorees.

That's just some of what happened in St. Olaf College Athletics in 2025… Below are the eight stories that stood out the most in a year's worth of stories worth celebrating!

Isabel Wyatt breaks MIAC record in 1,000-meter run at MIAC Indoor Championships

Full Story

On March 1, Isabel Wyatt broke the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) record in the 1,000-meter run as part of the St. Olaf College women's track and field team's runner-up finish at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Collegeville. The junior won her second individual title of the meet in a conference-record time of 2:51.13 to better the previous conference record of 2:51.48 set by the University of St. Thomas' Emily Gapinski in 2016.

Wyatt, who also won the 800-meter run in 2:14.63 at the indoor meet, was named the MIAC Women's Co-Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Ole to receive the accolade since Megan (Daymont) Thomas won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2002-03. She went on to earn Second Team All-America honors in the 800-meter run with a ninth-place national finish before completing the MIAC 800-meter double by winning the event outdoors as well with another school-record time (2:09.44).

Women's Nordic wins fourth consecutive USCSA Team title

Full Story

In mid-March, the St. Olaf College women's Nordic skiing team cruised to its fourth consecutive United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) team title by a dominant 55-point margin at the USCSA National Championships in Bend, Ore. The Oles won the 7.5K Freestyle, Classic Sprint, and 15K Classic (the Freestyle Team Sprint was canceled) to give St. Olaf first-place team finishes in 12 of the 14 team events contested over the last four USCSA National Championships.

Individually, Lily Hubanks '25 finished atop the individual combined standings after winning the 15K Classic and 7.5K Freestyle events and placing second in the Classic Sprint. Current junior Amae Kam-Magruder was second after placing in the top three in all three events, highlighted by a win in the Classic Sprint. Current sophomore Liesl Cope-Schaeffer was fourth in all three events to place third overall, while current junior Lily Ward was fifth overall to give the Oles a sweep of the top-five individual spots.

Men's cross country claims fourth MIAC team title in a row, finishes 13th nationally

MIAC Championships Recap | NCAA Championships Recap

The St. Olaf College men's cross country team claimed its fourth MIAC team title in a row with a convincing 51-point margin of victory on Nov. 1 at Highland 9 Cross Country Trailhead. St. Olaf compiled a team score of 33 points to easily outpace second-place Carleton College with the second-largest margin of victory for a team since 2015, trailing only the Oles' record 73-point margin from a year ago. Seven Oles earned All-MIAC honors by placing in the top 15.

Three weeks later, St. Olaf recorded a 13th-place finish in the 32-team field at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Spartanburg, S.C. for the program's sixth consecutive top-20 national finish. Led by a second All-America performance in a row by senior Kevin Turlington, the Oles compiled 351 points to outperform their No. 18 national ranking by five spots and finish ahead of six teams ranked above them in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll entering the meet.

Men's soccer advances to national semifinals, wins another MIAC regular-season title

MIAC Title Recap | NCAA Quarterfinal Recap | NCAA Semifinal Recap

Two seasons after winning its first NCAA Division III national title, the St. Olaf College men's soccer team made its second-ever run to the national semifinals before falling to top-ranked and eventual national champion Tufts University, 2-1, on Dec. 5 in Salem, Va. St. Olaf punched its ticket to the Final Four by stringing together home wins over UW-Superior, Luther College, No. 15-ranked Williams College, and No. 8-ranked Wheaton College (Mass.) by a combined margin of 8-1. In Salem, the Oles took a 1-0 lead before the Jumbos scored a pair of set-piece goals to overcome the deficit.

Earlier in the season, St. Olaf claimed an outright MIAC regular-season title - the sixth outright crown in program history - with a 9-0-1 record, marking its fourth regular-season conference title in five seasons, all of which have come with undefeated records. The Oles clinched the title with a 1-0 home victory over Hamline University on Oct. 21 thanks to a late goal by junior Ryan Bechtel. St. Olaf finished the season ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll for its second-highest year-end ranking in program history.

Women's soccer sets single-season wins record for second season in a row

Full Story

For the second season in a row, the St. Olaf College women's soccer team broke its single-season wins record, racking up 15 victories in its second season under head coach Molly Fiedler. After winning 14 games a year ago, the Oles picked up their 15th victory of the season with a 1-0 win over Saint Mary's University in the quarterfinals of the MIAC Playoffs thanks to a second-half goal from junior Wren VanDeWalker. VanDeWalker's goal came 50 seconds into the second half, as the Oles finished the season 15-3-2 for the highest winning percentage in program history (.800).

Volleyball wins first MIAC regular-season title and NCAA Tournament match since 2010

MIAC Title Recap | NCAA First Round Recap

The St. Olaf College volleyball team put together its best season in 15 years, claiming its first MIAC regular-season title since 2010 and winning its first NCAA Tournament match since the same year. St. Olaf clinched at least a share of the regular-season crown with a five-set victory over Augsburg University on Nov. 1 before completing a perfect 11-0 run through the conference - the first time the Oles had done that since 1996 - with a road sweep of the College of St. Scholastica one week later. St. Olaf's MIAC regular-season title was the seventh in program history (1993-96, 2001, 2010, 2025).

After falling in the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs, the Oles earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship and picked up its first NCAA Tournament win with a sweep of the University of Northwestern on Nov. 20 in Bloomington, Ill. As the No. 5 seed in the regional, St. Olaf took the opening set in extra points before cruising to wins in the second and third sets by 10+ points to avenge a regular-season loss to the Eagles. Prior to this season, the Oles' last NCAA Tournament win was a regional semifinal sweep of Whitworth University on Nov. 13, 2010.

Morgan Ryan breaks MIAC single-season digs record during decorated senior season

During her senior season, Morgan Ryan racked up 809 digs to break not only the St. Olaf College volleyball team's single-season digs record, but also the MIAC all-time record in the category. Ryan's 809 digs were 21 more than the previous conference record established by Kaiti Wachter of the University of St. Thomas in 2012. The total was also the most by an NCAA Division III women's volleyball student-athlete since 2018 and the most at all three levels of NCAA women's volleyball during the 2025 season.

Ryan earned a number of postseason accolades, including being voted an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Second Team All-American and the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the seven-member Bloomington Regional All-Tournament Team, the MIAC All-Playoff Team, the AVCA All-Region 9 First Team, and the All-MIAC team.

St. Olaf shines on conference and national levels in fall of 2025

MIAC All-Sports Competition Story | Learfield Directors' Cup Story

The fall 2025 season was one of the most successful in the history of St. Olaf College Athletics, as St. Olaf led the MIAC All-Sports Competition and ranked in the top four percent of NCAA Division III institutions in the Learfield Directors' Cup. On the conference level, St. Olaf earned 69 points - 37 from its women's teams and 32 from its men's teams - to sit atop the conference's men's and women's all-sport standings through the fall. The Oles' 69 points were its most since 2012 and the joint fourth-highest total for St. Olaf since the women's competition was implemented in 1983-84. St. Olaf won MIAC team titles in men's cross country, men's soccer, and volleyball, in addition to top-three finishes from women's cross country and women's soccer.

On the national level, St. Olaf concluded the fall ranked 15th out of 429 NCAA Division III institutions in the Learfield Directors' Cup, which ranks institutions based on their finishes at the NCAA Championships. St. Olaf earned 241.0 points this fall - its second-highest total ever - to lead all MIAC institutions and finish in the top 30 for the sixth fall in a row. The Oles' 15th-place standing was one spot shy of the highest for St. Olaf in the history of the Learfield Directors' Cup (t-14th in 1996-97). Men's soccer led the way with 83 points from its Final Four appearance, while men's cross country (63 points), volleyball (50 points), and women's cross country (45 points) also contributed to St. Olaf's total.