Northwestern College Athletics

ST. PAUL – Northwestern College won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference’s (UMAC) Jerome Kruse Memorial Award for the second consecutive year, the league office announced on Tuesday. Northwestern, winner of seven of the UMAC’s all-sport trophies since the award’s inception in 1996-97, edged the College of St. Scholastica by just half of a point in the final standings.

Northwestern won three of the 16 UMAC conference championships throughout the 2008-09 academic year including football, volleyball and women’s golf. It was the Eagles’ seven second-place finishes that kept Northwestern in the hunt, as St. Scholastica claimed 10 UMAC championships, including all six of the spring sports’ titles.

After Northwestern and St. Scholastica’s 81 and 80.5 points, Martin Luther College used three conference championships to earn a third place finish with 57.5 points. The Knights bested the University of Minnesota, Morris by a mere point, as the Cougars wrapped up the year with 56.5 points.

The Jerome Kruse Memorial Award, with its inaugural season of 1996-1997, 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 UMAC and to the student-athlete, the award bears his name. 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.

2008-09 Kruse Award Standings (points)
1. Northwestern College (81)
2. College of St. Scholastica (80.5)
3. Martin Luther College (57.5)
4. University of Minnesota, Morris (56.5)
5. Northland College (37)
6. Bethany Lutheran College (35)
7. Presentation College (26.5)
8. Crown College (23)

Past Kruse Award Winners
2008-09 - Northwestern College
2007-08 - Northwestern College
2006-07 - College of St. Scholastica
2005-06 - College of St. Scholastica
2004-05 - Northwestern College
2003-04 - Northwestern College
2002-03 - Martin Luther College
2001-02 - Northwestern College
2000-01 - Northwestern College
1999-00 - College of St. Scholastica, Northwestern College (tie)
1998-99 - Martin Luther College
1997-98 - College of St. Scholastica
1996-97 - College of St. Scholastica