Northwestern College Athletics

ST. PAUL (May 29, 2008) – Northwestern College was recently recognized as the winner of the 2007-08 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Kruse Award. The annual honor recognizes the top overall institution in the UMAC, using a rating system with points accumulated by the place finishes of the institution’s athletic teams in the final regular season standings of all conference-sponsored sports.

The Eagles from Northwestern finished the academic year with 82 total points, beating the College of St. Scholastica, winner of the 2006-07 Kruse Award, by eight points. The University of Minnesota-Morris finished third in the standings with 53.5 points.

Northwestern boasted seven conference championships in 2007-08 in the sports of men’s cross country, football, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, softball and men’s track and field. St. Scholastica matched Northwestern’s number of conference championships and was the only other school in the UMAC to finish the year with more than one conference crown.

Northwestern last won the Kruse award in 2004-05 and has now won the award six times since its inception in 1996-97. The Eagles boast the most Kruse Award titles in conference history.

The Jerome Kruse Memorial Award, with its inaugural season of 1996-97, is in honor of Mr. Jerome Kruse, a long-time athletic director of Northwestern College (Wis.) and later Martin Luther College.  Mr. Kruse's life ended early and because of his dedication to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and to the student-athlete, the award honors his name.

2007-08 Final Kruse Award Standings (points)