14 Bethany winter and spring student-athletes earn academic all-conference awards
Tuesday, June 09, 2009

ST. PAUL – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) released its winter and spring sports academic all-conference lists from the 2008-09 school year on Tuesday. The individual athletes selected must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the award:

1. Post a 3.50 or better semester grade point average based on a 4.0 scale.
2. Compete in the sport in which he or she is nominated in the season that corresponds with the selection.

Bethany Lutheran had 14 academic all-conference honorees, with three athletes from each baseball, softball, men’s tennis, and women’s basketball. Two women’s tennis players received honors.

Baseball led all winter and spring sports with 43 honorees amongst participating schools. Women’s track and field had 41 award winners, while men’s track and field came in third with 39. Softball rounded out the UMAC’s top four with 32 selections. A grand total of 254 individuals earned academic all-conference awards.

As far as team academic all-conference awards go, Martin Luther College and Northwestern College each claimed the best grade point averages (GPA) in three of the eight winter and spring sports. UMAC-sponsored sports that occur in the winter and spring and their top academic teams are listed below.

Sport, School, Team GPA
Baseball, College of St. Scholastica, 3.587
Softball, Northwestern College, 3.597
Men’s Tennis, Martin Luther College, 2.972
Women’s Tennis, Northwestern College, 3.194
Men’s Track & Field, University of Minn., Morris, 3.397
Women’s Track & Field, Martin Luther College, 2.976
Men’s Basketball, Martin Luther College, 2.646
Women’s Basketball, Northwestern College, 3.507

Bethany Lutheran College

Name, Sport, Yr
Steve Hoostal, Baseball, Jr
Michael Greibrok, Baseball, Jr
Devin Kaasa, Baseball, Sr
Abagail Popp, Softball, So
Brittany Schlomer, Softball, Jr
Susan Hegstrom, Softball, Jr
Paul Webber, Men’s Tennis, So
Mike Lukasek, Men’s Tennis, Sr
Ben Wiechmann, Men’s Tennis, Sr
Caitlyn Felthous, Women’s Tennis, Jr
Madara Matveja, Women’s Tennis, So
Eva Voss, Women’s Basketball, Sr
Molly Erdman, Women’s Basketball, Jr
Megan Lecy, Women’s Basketball, So

Women’s tennis achieves winning season in 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Joseph Baer

Mankato, Minn.—The Bethany women’s tennis team has improved every year since the team went winless in 2005, and their 2009 season proved to be their most successful yet. The Vikings finished the season with a record of 7-5 (5-4 UMAC). They also placed third place in the conference regular season and fourth in the postseason tournament.

The team’s 1-2-3 punch of Elizabeth Kopacek (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo), Caitlyn Felthous (Pine River, Minn./Pequot Lakes), and Meaghan Dahlke (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) all finished the year with even records of 7-7 in singles matches. Kopacek and Dahlke were also named to the UMAC All-Conference First Team. The team’s number four, Madara Matveja (Kekava, Latvia/Riga Secondary), had a successful season, finishing 8-6 in singles play. Matveja also reached the No. 4 singles championship in the postseason tournament before finishing runner-up. Kayln Ivers (Faribault, Minn./Faribault) finished the year 6-7, while Laura Gehlhar (Hager City, Wis./St. Croix Lutheran) was 3-7 in singles matches.

The Vikings also finished with a .500 record of 21-21 in all doubles matches, with Felthous and Kopacek leading the way with six doubles wins together.

Coach Adolph Harstad noted, “The team exceeded expectation with the best record for Bethany women’s tennis in years, I received great attitude and cooperation from this team.” With only one player on the way out and some strong recruits coming in, Coach Harstad expects to see an even better women’s tennis team in 2010.

Women's tennis finishes fourth in UMAC Tournament
Sunday, May 03, 2009

Elizabeth Kopacek

Minneapolis, Minn.—The Bethany women’s tennis team brought their season to a close at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tennis Championship Tournament at the Baseline Center on Saturday, taking fourth place in post season play.

On day one of the two-day tournament, Madara Matveja (Kekava, Latvia/Riga Secondary) was the sole Bethany player to secure a spot in the championship match on Saturday at No. 4 singles. Matveja defeated Jodi Roy of Minnesota-Morris by a score of 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Dana Smith of Northwestern by a score of 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Elizabeth Kopacek (No. 1 singles, Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo), Caitlyn Felthous (No. 2, Pine River, Minn./Pequot Lakes), Meaghan Dahlke (No. 3, Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and Kalyn Ivers (No. 5, Faribault, Minn./Faribault) each won in the quarterfinals but lost in the semifinals.

On day two, Matveja took on Angela Shields of St. Scholastica in the No. 4 singles championship game and lost by a score of 6-1, 6-4.

The Vikings finished the tournament with nine points which put them in fourth place. In regualr season play, Bethany finished third in the UMAC with a 6-4 conference record and 7-5 record overall.