(Clockwise from top left) Women’s swimmer Justice Beard, men’s golfer Logan Mayo, members of the women’s soccer team and baseball player Mitch Bonczkowski were among the UMSL student-athletes who shined brightest during arguably the most successful athletic year in school history. (Photos courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
The University of Missouri–St. Louis Department of Athletics was already in the midst of the most successful run in the university’s history when the 2025-26 academic year began.
But rather than rest of past accomplishments, Tritons student-athletes and coaches raised the bar even higher by achieving more in the fall, winter and spring seasons than in any other year with a record five Great Lakes Valley Conference championships, three other regular-season titles, national quarterfinal appearances by the women’s soccer and women’s golf teams, a national semifinal berth for the men’s golf team, a school-record 17 All-America nods and three individual national championships for women’s swimmer Justice Beard.
It all added up to a 37th place finish nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup NCAA Division II standings, which track each athletic department’s success across all sports based on how they finish in NCAA Championships. It was the highest finish in UMSL history, topping 2022-23 when the Tritons placed 50th. UMSL has not finished lower than 77th in the Director’s Cup standings in any of the past five years.
“This has been an incredibly special year for UMSL Athletics because the success we’ve experienced has truly been department-wide,” said Holly Sheilley, UMSL’s executive director of athletics. “We have seen excellence across nearly every program, and I believe that kind of collective success changes expectations. It raises the standard for what we believe is possible, and just as importantly, success builds upon success.”
The women’s soccer team, under first-year Coach Stephen Cavallo, set the tone for the year in the fall season when it won the regular-season conference championship, secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and played its way to the national quarterfinals for only the second time in school history and first in 43 years. The Tritons had only been picked fifth in the preseason conference coaches’ poll but far exceeded expectations thanks largely to a suffocating defense – led by third-team All-American and GLVC Defensive Player of the Year Taylor Martin and goalkeeper Rylee Griffith – which recorded 12 shutouts while only allowing a total of 10 goals in its first 20 matches.
Though it could not match the women’s soccer team’s postseason run, the volleyball program still put together one of the most successful seasons in school history – no small feat for a program that has been two the national semifinals twice in the past five years. Led by GLVC Player of the Year Caitlin Bishop, the Tritons’ multipronged attack at one point won 19 consecutive matches and finished unbeaten in conference play. Coach Ryan Young’s team also won the GLVC tournament for the first time to secure the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region Championship, though UMSL got upset on their home court at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.
The Tritons carried the success from the fall throughout the winter. The women’s basketball team, led by junior forward Mara Rieder, the GLVC Player of the Year, and senior guard Morgan Ramthun, won the first regular-season conference title in program history when it went 18-2 in GLVC play. Coach Katie Vaughn’s team earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for only the fourth time in UMSL history – and first since 2022 – and finished with a school-record 25 victories after knocking off Ferris State for its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
Meanwhile, in the pool, UMSL sent six swimmers to the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, led by Beard, who owned the fastest seed times in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events. The pressure of being on top didn’t affect the distance specialist from Paducah, Kentucky, as she put together three dominant performances to capture three individual national titles – the first swimming championships in UMSL’s history.
Beard also joined former men’s golfer Joel Sylven and the 1973 men’s soccer team as UMSL’s only NCAA champions.
Somehow, spring might have been the strongest season of all for the Tritons.
Led by senior all-conference player Hannah Tse, the women’s tennis team posted a record of 15-5, including an unblemished mark against GLVC competition, to win the East Division regular-season title and a conference tournament championship. They secured the fourth NCAA Tournament bid in school history and first since 2018.
The baseball program won its first GLVC title since 2003 behind the pitching of ace left-hander Eli Cartwright, the GLVC Pitcher of the Year, and the slugging of first baseman Mitch Bonczkowski, who set single-season (23) and career (32) records for home runs while leading the GLVC in batting average (.438), slugging percentage (.852), OPS (1.356), hits (92), runs batted in (75). UMSL finished the season with a record of 34-22, its highest win total since racking up 39 victories in 2003, which was also the last time before this season that the Tritons reached the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s and men’s golf teams gave UMSL for GLVC titles in the spring alone as each captured the conference crown in match play before embarking on deep postseason runs.
The women, led by GLVC Player of the Year and four-time All-American Wilma Zanderau, placed fourth in the 18-team NCAA East Regional, then wound up eighth in stroke play at the NCAA Division II Championship. That result earned the Tritons a place in medal/match play for the first time in school history.
The men were even better, coming in second out of 20 teams at the NCAA Midwest/Central Regional, then finishing second against in stroke play at the NCAA Division II Championship with the second-best score for 54 holes in the history of the event. Logan Mayo, Dani Solavera and Leo Baudry all placed among the top 10 individuals with Mayo tying for fourth. UMSL knocked off California State University San Bernardino in its opening match to reach the national semifinals for the first time in school history.
When the year ended, 42 UMSL student-athletes had earned All-GLVC honors with eight claiming major awards. In addition to Martin, Bishop, Rieder, Beard, Cartwright and Zanderau, volleyball player Skylar Weaver was named the Libero of the Year while basketball player Jayden Kuper was named the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Cavallo, Young, Vaughn, swimming Coach Tony Hernandez, tennis coach Megan Holdridge, baseball Coach Scott Eul and golf Coach Troy Halterman all earned GLVC Coach of the Year honors, Halterman twice in both men’s and women’s golf.
UMSL’s success wasn’t limited to competition. Triton student-athletes posted cumulative 3.572 GPA with 14 programs winning GLVC Team Academic Awards with a combined GPA of at least 3.30. Women’s basketball (3.828) posted the highest mark, followed by volleyball (3.820), women’s tennis (3.790), men’s golf (3.731), men’s tennis (3.702), women’s soccer (3.678), softball (3.607), men’s cross country (3.597), women’s swimming (3.573), men’s swimming (3.512), women’s golf (3.473), baseball (3.356), men’s soccer (3.353) and women’s cross country (3.336). All 15 teams finished with a collective GPA of at least 3.24 for the first time in school history.
The Tritons had 174 student-athletes named Academic All-GLVC. All 15 teams were represented on the list with baseball and women’s soccer accounting for the most with 24 student-athletes each, while volleyball, women’s basketball and women’s tennis had all their student-athletes honored. In total, 70% of UMSL student-athletes were named to the list.
The Tritons had 27 student-athletes receive the Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar Award for having a 4.0 GPA for the 2025-26 academic year. The honorees were baseball players Cale Berkbuegler, Garrett Brunstetter and Noah Tomaras; men’s cross country runner Will Kaempfe; men’s soccer player Max Matarelli; men’s swimmers Harrison Miller and Mattia Nardi; women’s basketball players Addison Swadinsky, Aliya Tripp and Emerson Weller; women’s golfers Alaina Ervin and Josefin Hansson; women’s soccer players Josie Maddox, Mary Kate Neal, Sophie Steinmetz, Aubree Wallace and Lexi Whalen; softball players Ashley Borowitz and Simia Spahiev; women’s swimmers Maddison Bottorff and Callie Clinton; women’s tennis player Anna Favaron; and volleyball players Bridget Cassady, Lydia Hartman, Aline Kellenberger, Anna Kohmetscher; and Addison Voorhees.
UMSL also had 34 student-athletes rewarded for their career academic excellence by being presented with the GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award. The honorees were baseball players Bonczkowski, Brunstetter, Cade Grevengoed and Nate Kemp; men’s cross country runners Kaempfe, Devon Fanning and Jonny Key; men’s golfers Baudry and Andy Hennen; men’s soccer players Colton Milosch and Michael Quinn; men’s tennis players AJ Burrows, Tanin Ramnath and Percy Siercke; men’s swimmers Miller, Joan Cortadellas Llubera and Aaron Wicklund; women’s basketball players Ramthun and Anna Costa Riera; women’s soccer players Neal, Steinmetz, Kennedi Hooks, Natalie Scott, and Julie Steiger; softball players Borowitz, Spahiev and Kaytie Kossina; women’s swimmers Bottorf and Clinton; women’s tennis players Tse and Favaron; and women’s volleyball players Hannah Copeland, Rylee Edson and Iyannah Jackson.
“I could not be more proud of what our student-athletes, coaches and staff have accomplished together this year,” Sheilley said. “This success is a testament to the culture we have built, and I am excited about what the future holds for UMSL Athletics.”
