St. Scholastica jumps into early lead in 2019-20 Kruse Award standings
ST. PAUL, Minn.---After locking up a 10th-straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Jerome Kruse All-Sport Trophy by a narrow margin, the College of St. Scholastica started off the 2019-2020 season with a sizeable 12.5-point lead following the fall season, it was announced Friday.
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UMAC Jerome Kruse Award Website |
The Saints' lead came after winning a share of five UMAC regular season titles to tally 60 total points. The University of Wisconsin-Superior sits solidly in second place with 47.5 points after grabbing two regular season championships, while the University of Northwestern is third with 39 points.
The Saints started out the fall with a fourth-straight victory in women's golf and a solid second-place performance in men's golf. The Saints captured both the men's and women's cross country titles and repeated as champions in women's soccer. In volleyball, the Saints shared the conference title with Northwestern and the University of Minnesota Morris.
The Yellowjackets earned their first title of the fall with a big win in men's golf for the second year in a row as well as a repeat team win in men's soccer. They also finished second in men's cross country and had top three finishes in women's cross country and women's soccer. Northwestern remains in the top three thanks to another title win in volleyball as well as a runner-up finish in women's soccer.
The next three teams in the standings are separated by 4.5 points with Minnesota Morris fourth with 36.5 points, Martin Luther College fifth with 35.5 points and then Bethany Lutheran College sixth (32 points). The Cougars earned a share of their only fall title in volleyball and were narrowly runners-up in women's cross country. Martin Luther earned a second-consecutive championship in football to highlight the fall. Bethany Lutheran saw a strong jump in men's soccer to third in the standings to highlight the Vikings' fall.
The standings rounded out with Northland College in seventh (22.5 points), Crown College finishing eighth (16.5 points) and North Central University taking ninth (5.5 points).
Since the award's inception in 1996-97, St. Scholastica has won the Kruse Award a UMAC-best 15 times. The award, which is named after Mr. Jerome Kruse, a longtime athletic director at the former Northwestern College (Wis.) and Martin Luther College, travels to the full-member institution with the most points accumulated by the place finishes of the college's athletic teams in the final standings of 18 conference sponsored sports.
KRUSE AWARD POINTS (2019-2020 - through fall sports)
1. St. Scholastica - 60 points
2. Wisconsin-Superior - 47.5 points
3. Northwestern - 39 points
4. Minnesota Morris - 36.5 points
5. Martin Luther - 35.5 points
6. Bethany Lutheran -32 points
7. Northland - 22.5 points
8. Crown - 16.5 points
9. North Central - 5.5 points
KRUSE AWARD POINTS (2019-2020)
UMAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
| School |
MCC |
WCC |
FB |
MSC |
WSC |
VB |
MGF |
WGF |
Total |
| Bethany Lutheran College |
4 |
3 |
- |
7 |
4.5 |
5 |
5 |
3.5 |
32 |
| College of St. Scholastica |
8 |
8 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
60 |
| Crown College |
1 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1.5 |
3 |
- |
16.5 |
| Martin Luther College |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
3.5 |
7 |
1 |
35.5 |
| North Central University |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1.5 |
2 |
- |
5.5 |
| Northland College |
2 |
2 |
- |
6 |
3 |
3.5 |
4 |
2 |
22.5 |
| University of Minnesota Morris |
6 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
4.5 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
36.5 |
| University of Northwestern |
3 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
39 |
| University of Wisconsin-Superior |
7 |
6 |
- |
9 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
3.5 |
47.5 |