Hinz, Koelpin selected as 2019 UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award winners
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Among a field of 18 talented and dedicated Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) senior student-athletes recognized as finalists for the 2019 Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award, two individuals have set themselves apart from the rest through consistent success on and off the field of competition.
MacKenna Hinz of Bethany Lutheran College and Josh Koelpin of Martin Luther College have been selected as the winners of the 2019 UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award, the conference office announced Wednesday.
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Through this award, the UMAC recognizes the role athletics plays in developing leaders by rewarding athletes' excellence in the classroom as well as service to the community. The honor is awarded annually to one male and one female graduating senior from UMAC full member-institutions.
Hinz and Koelpin emerged from a group of finalists that demonstrates a healthy balance by achieving excellence in academics, leadership, and service while participating in intercollegiate athletics. Finalists for each institution were nominated by the UMAC Faculty Athletics Representatives (FAR) and the winners were also selected by the FAR Council.
"The UMAC is honored to recognize MacKenna and Josh as our 2019 UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award winners," said UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt. "These student-athletes have achieved outstanding accomplishments in athletics, academics, and campus and community pursuits. Further, MacKenna and Josh have both demonstrated remarkable leadership capability and dedication to serving others in a number of ways. They exemplify the NCAA Division III philosophy and UMAC core values as they both serve as great representatives of the type of student-athletes that the UMAC is thrilled to have competing."
MacKenna Hinz, Bethany Lutheran College
During her time at Bethany Lutheran, Hinz has practiced and perfected her ability to work as a contributing member of a team – both on the volleyball and other leadership capacities – which has prepared her to serve as a future innovator in the health care field .
“Working as a team is a really big (takeaway) that I'll bring with me, " said Hinz. "Bethany Lutheran has given me some great life lesson as far as that goes, and for my future endeavors I know that will be super important.”
Hinz' leadership and excellence on the volleyball court helped lead the Vikings to a UMAC postseason appearance in 2016 and four successful seasons during her time. As a senior, Hinz started as the team's libero and eclipsed the 1,000 career dig mark – one of Hinz' top memories during her time as a Viking. She served as senior captain in 2018, earned the UMAC Sportsmanship Award and finished third all-time at Bethany Lutheran for career digs (1,062).
While Hinz was a key contributor on the volleyball court, she exemplifies every aspect of UMAC and Division III student-athletes through her academic success. Hinz was a four-time Academic All-UMAC performer for volleyball and twice earned the accolade for track and field as a two-sport athlete. The biology major has been a presidential scholar and dean's list student each of her four years at Bethany Lutheran. Hinz has been an active member of the Scholatic Leadership Society since 2016, and has served as president of the merit-based organization this year. In this role, Hinz is responsible to organizing a variety of campus volunteer efforts and serving as a liaison to campus faculty.
In addition to her leadership and achievement academically, Hinz has emersed herself in serving the campus and greater community through various leadership opportunities. Hinz has been a three-year member of the Bethany Lutheran Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is currently the organization's president. During her time in SAAC, she helped grow membership from 10 to 30 student-athletes and has passionately organized numerous volunteer initiatives including two annual food drives.
"Every year for SAAC we do two food drives, one for Halloween and one for our Division III Week program," said Hinz. "It’s just honestly my favorite thing because you can really see the accumulation of your efforts as a group of athletes getting all the food together, and we put it in the locker room and weigh it out and bring it down to the Echo Food Shelf. It’s just really awesome to see everyone work together and the impact on the community for our food shelf programs."
Hinz also serves the Bethany Lutheran community as a resident assistant where she helps plan resident and campus-wide events. This year, Hinz was also elected as a senior representative of the Bethany Lutheran Student Senate where she serves on the financial affairs committee and is responsible for keeping track of the Senate budget and working as a liaison for students to campus leadership. Hinz also works as a teacher's assistant in the Spanish department working as a language lab coordinator and helping other students learn the language better outside the classroom.
As a future leader in the medical profession, Hinz has gained valuable experience in the field as an intern and volunteer. Last summer, Hinz interned with the Health Partners neuroscience center as a research assistant which led to her having an article published in a spinal cord injury journal. Additionally, she has volunteered at the local hospital in the emergency department since 2016. In this role, Hinz assists nurses in discharging patients and cleaning and organizing the department.
Hinz is currently pursuing employment and plans to apply for medical school beginning in 2020 with the goal of starting coursework for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Josh Koelpin, Martin Luther College
In his four years at Martin Luther, Koelpin has prepared himself for a pastoral career through his diverse involvement in academics, service and co-curricular opportunities as well as his pursuits as a two-sport athlete and leader in both the men's soccer and tennis programs.
“I think being a student-athlete and a leader on a team ha a lot to do with future life and being a pastor,” said Koelpin. "A pastor is looked upon to lead his congregation and show them different things...It's been really cool to lead other guys during their time here at MLC and just be a mentor for them as guys were mentors for me as I came in."
Koelpin has been an impact player for the men's soccer team leading the Knights to UMAC postseason appearances each of the last three years. As a senior, Koelpin was a All-UMAC Second Team performer and helped the Knights defeat the College of St. Scholastica for the first time since 2006 – a career highlight for Koelpin. He also has been a starter in the tennis lineup since his first year as a Knight and earned All-UMAC honors in 2017. Koelpin has been a captain of both Knight programs each of the last two seasons.
Beyond his achievements on the pitch and court, Koelpin has found immense success in the classroom as a classical biblical studies major on track for ministry with a focus on Spanish. Koelpin has been a UMAC Academic All-Conference honoree in each season of competition during his four years and has received four different Martin Luther scholarships for his achievement in multiple areas of leadership, languages and academic merits.
With plans to serves as a future pastor, Koelpin has been drawn to leadership opportunities within the campus community focused around ministry. He is a key member of the Evangelism Day team organizing speakers and activities for the campus community each January. Additionally, he has sevred three years on the pastoral motivation committee where he helps cultivate encouraging and motivational gatherings for pre-seminary students on campus. Koeplin also works as a member of the campus event team in the mission advancement office and works as a chapel and concert usher. In addition to his involvement with pastoral outreach, Koelpin has worked as a resident assistant on campus and is a member of the Knight Vision team which live streams athletics events on campus.
One of Koelpin's most memorable experiences during his time at Martin Luther has been through missions work that has helped prepare him for his future work as a pastor. "Last summer I had an opportunity to go to Mexico for a month and help out with our WELS mission in Mahahual, Mexico," he said. "It was a great experience to improve my Spanish skills but also to give me a flavor of what ministry is like. That has been really impactful on just how I’ve seen things here on campus and just the idea of a 'mission-mindset.'”
In addition to serving congregations in Mexico, Koelpin also spent time in Guayama, Puerto Rico, and currently assists a Spanish-speaking ministry in St. Peter, Minnesota, by preaching sermons and teaching Bible classes once a month.
Hinz and Koelpin will receive a commemorative plaque with their name engraved on it. Together, they become the 12th group to win the UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award since its inception in 2008.
Past UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award winners:
2018 – Nick McCormick (Crown College), Kira Grev (Martin Luther College)
2017 – John Haseman (University of Minnesota Morris), Elissa Pheneger (North Central University)
2016 – Louis Corcoran (Northland College), Annaliese Schroeder (North Central University)
2015 – Sutton Rehwalt (North Central University), Olivia Krejcarek (College of St. Scholastica)
2014 – Brendan Foss (University of Minnesota Morris), Krista Stoltz (University of Northwestern), Abby Fragodt (University of Minnesota Morris)
2013 – Brett Tester (College of St. Scholastica), Kali Cordes (University of Minnesota Morris)
2012 – Brady Giffith (Crown College), Joelle Pipal (Bethany Lutheran College)
2011 – Toby Peter (College of St. Scholastica), April Cook (Martin Luther College)
2010 – Nick Olson (Northwestern College), Maddy Gerber (University of Minnesota Morris)
2009 – Zach Marshall (Northwestern College), Eva Voss (Bethany Lutheran College)
2008 – Nathan Nass (Martin Luther College), Christopher Rubesch (College of St. Scholastica), Kristin Scislow (Bethany Lutheran College)