NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College Department of Athletics celebrated the 2025-26 academic year with the fourth annual Golden Ole Awards on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.
Started in 2022-23, the "Golden Oles" are the department's year-end awards night that recognizes the accomplishments of the department's teams and student-athletes. Prior to the awards program, the event began with social time that included an ice cream truck, music, and games.
Hosted by Athletic Director Kelly Mahlum, the awards program included awards for Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Male and Female Newcomer of the Year, Play of the Year, Moment of the Year, the OLE Spirit Award, the Ole Pride Points Award, Manager/Student Worker of the Year, the Fighting Heart Award, the Iron Ole Award, the Golden Crutch, the Highest Team GPA Award, and the Dave Hauck Award.
In addition to the awards, senior
Claire Keech delivered a senior send-off speech, Mahlum recognized the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Executive Board for their work over the past year, and the department honored retiring head coaches
Dan Kosmoski and
Matt McDonald. Senior student-athletes also received their senior blankets at the conclusion of the event. The entire event can be viewed
on demand here.
Women's Highest Team GPA Award: Women's Soccer – 3.77
Men's Highest Team GPA Award: Men's Tennis – 3.72
Ole Pride Points Award: Claire Keech
First awarded in 2023-24, the Ole Pride Points Award recognizes the St. Olaf student(s) who earned the most Ole Pride Points during the academic year. The Ole Pride Points program is a partnership between the athletic department and the Office of Student Activities where students earn points redeemable for prizes for attending home athletic events.
OLE Spirit Award: Swimming & Diving
The OLE Spirit Award was created to recognize an Ole student-athlete(s) or team who demonstrate outstanding Ole spirit by supporting the department's teams and student-athletes to the highest level.
Manager/Student Worker of the Year: Sophia Worrell – Men's hockey student manager
The Manager/Student Worker of the Year award honors a manager(s) and/or student worker(s) who do exemplary work throughout the academic year.
Play of the Year: Rylan Nakamura's game-saving defensive play at Bethel
The Play of the Year was determined by nominations and voting on the @StOlafAthletics Instagram account. Nakamura's play received over 30 percent of over 750 votes.
Female Co-Newcomers of the Year: Hannah Yaeger, Softball | Claire Stein, Women's Track & Field
Yaeger was named the MIAC Softball Rookie of the Year and helped the Oles to another appearance in the MIAC Playoffs. She hit .432 with 21 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 23 runs scored, and 33 RBI while getting on base at nearly a 50 percent clip. Yaeger's season totals ranked in the top five in program history in doubles, batting average, total bases, slugging percentage, RBI, and on-base percentage.
Stein was selected as the MIAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Rookie of the Year after winning individual conference titles in the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles, while finishing as the runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles. A national qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles, she was the conference runner-up in the pentathlon, was third in the 55-meter hurdles, and ran on the conference-champion 4x200-meter relay during the indoor season. In total, Stein broke four individual program records and was part of another record-setting relay.
Male Co-Newcomers of the Year: Ryan Nolan, Men's Hockey | Paxon Myers, Men's Track & Field
Nolan was one of the top performers at his position in the MIAC this season, leading the conference in save percentage while finishing second in goals-against average, fourth in saves per game, and fifth in saves. His .935 save percentage was the highest in program history and ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division III.
Myers won the MIAC outdoor title in the 800-meter run and was a Second Team All-American in the event indoors. He placed 16th nationally in the 800 while earning all-conference honors in the 600-meter run and 4x200-meter relay during the indoor season. Myers set the all-time program record in the indoor 600-meter run and ranks in the top eight in program history in both 800-meter events.
Female Athlete of the Year: Morgan Ryan, Volleyball
Ryan earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Second Team All-America honors and was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year in her senior season, in addition to AVCA First Team All-Region, All-MIAC, MIAC All-Playoff, and NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team honors. Her play helped St. Olaf to its first MIAC regular-season title since 2010, its first unbeaten MIAC season since 1996, and its first NCAA Tournament win since 2010. Ryan's 809 digs set a new program record and led all three divisions of the NCAA.
Male Athlete of the Year: Ryan Bechtel, Men's Soccer
Bechtel was honored as a United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American after earning First Team All-Region, MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, and All-MIAC honors. In 25 games, he recorded 11 goals and 13 assists for a team-high 35 points, with the 13 assists ranked fourth in NCAA Division III. Bechtel's play helped lead the Oles to another MIAC regular-season title and a second appearance in the national semifinals in the last three seasons.
Golden Crutch Award: Hallie Koltz, Women's Basketball | Noah Barrett, Football
The Golden Crutch Award is awarded by the St. Olaf Sports Medicine staff and is given to the male and female student-athlete who spent the most time in the athletic training facility, worked hard, brought joy, and inspired those around them.
Iron Ole Award: Tony Leahy, Men's Hockey | Kyra Narum, Softball | Claire Keech, Women's Track & Field | Mason Buck, Baseball
The Iron Ole Award is awarded by the St. Olaf Athletic Performance staff and is given to individuals who embody the spirit of relentless, detailed, and consistent effort each day while also exhibiting outstanding leadership qualities by raising the performance of others around them beyond sets and reps.
Moment of the Year: Late interception seals football's win over Concordia-Moorhead days after teammate's death
Days after the shooting of Matthew Lee, St. Olaf's defense sealed a rivalry-game win over Concordia-Moorhead with
Alec Mahoney's interception in the final minute of a 17-16 victory in the battle for the Troll Trophy. The win came eight days after Lee was killed in a shooting in South St. Paul. The team honored Lee by running onto the field with his #42 jersey, wearing t-shirts with his number and initials on them, and playing their hearts out.
Fighting Heart Award: Johnny Panarese, Baseball
Created in 2023-24, the Fighting Heart Award is given to someone who has overcome the odds and shown perseverance in their life and/or their sport. In its first year, the award was given to former St. Olaf Athletic Director
Ryan Bowles, who passed away from cancer in June 2024. This award was presented by Sarah and Tom Bowles.
This past fall, while training in Porter Hall, Panarese experienced a sudden cardiac event. Thanks to the quick response of the emergency team, he was rushed to receive the care he needed. After a months-long battle, he rejoined his team for the entirety of his sophomore season. Panarese displayed positivity, grit, and resilience while lifting others up even during his own time of hardship.
Dave Hauck Award: Isabel Wyatt, Women's Track & Field | Kevin Turlington, Men's Track & Field
The Dave Hauck Award – the department's top honor – was established in 2010 in honor of longtime head men's and women's swimming and diving coach Dave Hauck. Each year, the award is given to one female and one male senior student-athlete who have demonstrated high levels of academic achievement, community service, and athletic excellence.
Wyatt is a four-time MIAC individual champion, nine-time individual all-conference honoree, and three-time national qualifier, including earning All-America honors with a ninth-place finish in the indoor 800-meter run last year. She holds indoor school records in the 600-, 800-, and 1,000-meter runs, as well as the outdoor 800-meter run, and is the MIAC all-time record holder in the indoor 1,000. The 2024-25 MIAC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year also twice placed in the top 20 in the conference in cross country and earned all-region honors as a junior.
A quantitative economics major with a concentration in statistics and data science with a 3.99 cumulative grade-point average, Wyatt received several U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic and Academic All-MIAC accolades and was a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Third Team Academic All-American in 2024-25. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Epsilon, and Chi Alpha Sigma, she volunteered her time with Project Friendship and was highly involved in the economics department as the president of Omicron Delta Epsilon.
One of the top distance runners in program history, Turlington is a two-time All-American, three-time all-region, and three-time All-MIAC honoree in cross country and finished as high as 12th in the country this past fall. He is also a two-time All-American and eight-time All-MIAC performer on the track who most recently won the 10,000-meter run and was the runner-up in the 5,000-meter run this spring. Turlington holds the school record in the indoor 5K and ranks second in program history in the outdoor 5K and 10K, with his times in those final two events ranking in the top 40 in NCAA Division III history.
A philosophy and quantitative economics double-major with a 3.90 cumulative GPA, Turlington is a two-time CSC Academic All-District honoree and has earned five Academic All-MIAC and five USTFCCCA All-Academic accolades. He has volunteered his time spending afternoons with the residents of the Northfield Retirement Community and has volunteered for Feed My Starving Children, while also serving as a teaching assistant for a formal logic course on campus.
