ST. PAUL, Minn. – UW-Superior has moved atop the leaderboard for the 2025-26 Kruse Award following the conclusion of the winter season. The award, named in honor of long-time Northwestern College (Wis.) and Martin Luther College athletic director Jerome Kruse, travels to the college with the most points accumulated by the place finishes of the college's athletic teams in the final standings of 18 conference sponsored sports.
The Yellowjackets currently stand atop the Kruse Award standings with 57 points after winning conference titles in four of the 12 UMAC sports awarded to date: men's cross country, men's soccer, men's golf, and men's indoor track and field.
Northwestern stands second with 53 points after earning conference regular season titles in four of the eight UMAC fall sports: women’s cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, and volleyball.
Crown is third with 45.5 points and won the football and women's indoor track and field championships.
Bethany Lutheran follows closely in fourth with 44.5 points and won the women's basketball regular season title.
Martin Luther is fifth with 39.5 points, University of Minnesota Morris is sixth with 36.5 points, and North Central completes the standings in seventh with 22 points. The Rams claimed the final remaining championship in men's basketball.
2025-26 KRUSE AWARD STANDINGS
WINTER UPDATE
| School |
MXC |
WXC |
FB |
MS |
WS |
VB |
MG |
WG |
MB |
WB |
MITR |
WITR |
Total |
Ranking |
| Bethany Lutheran |
3 |
1 |
x |
6 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
x |
4.5 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
44.5 |
4th |
| Crown |
6 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4.5 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
45.5 |
3rd |
| Martin Luther |
4 |
4 |
1.5 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
39.5 |
5th |
| North Central |
1 |
x |
x |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
x |
7 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
7th |
| Minnesota Morris |
2 |
2 |
1.5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
36.5 |
6th |
| Northwestern |
5 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
53 |
2nd |
| UW-Superior |
7 |
3 |
x |
7 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
5 |
57 |
1st |