(Clockwise from top left) UMSL celebrated the volleyball team’s second straight NCAA Regional title and got standout individual performances from All-American golfer Wilma Zanderau, NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship qualifier Benjamin VandenBrink; and GLVC Freshman Swimmer of the Year Justice Beard, among others, during the 2023-24 academic year. (Photos courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
The 2022-23 academic year was arguably the most successful in the history of the University of Missouri–St. Louis Department of Athletics, but Tritons student-athletes proved their staying power with their accomplishments in 2023-24.
Building on an unprecedented string of postseason success, UMSL sent five teams to NCAA Championships over the past year, had 10 All-Americans and placed No. 77 nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Division II standings. The annual competition tracks each athletic department’s success across all sports based on how it finishes in NCAA Championships.
“I think what we’ve built here is exciting, and we’ve been able to sustain it,” Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan said. “It’s been a plan. It’s been a work in progress for a number of years, but there’s been a plan as to how you orchestrate it, how you put certain people in positions. You have to have a lot of luck too. The student-athletes have to really buy into what you’re doing.
“It starts with the coaches, and we have a really strong group of coaches that have bought in, have learned from each other. I think the school has made it easier to recruit to by adding degree programs and out-of-state tuition offerings. They’ve opened up the doors for us to bring in very good student-athletes from around the world.”
The Tritons volleyball team once again produced the year’s biggest highlight. With Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year and All-American setter Caitlin Bishop directing a multipronged attack featuring outside hitter Lexie Rang and Delaney Humm, UMSL won its first 30 matches, climbed as high as No. 2 in the national rankings and won the right to host the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.
The Tritons knocked off Missouri S&T, Grand Valley State and Ferris State in front of raucous crowds over three days to make it back to the Elite Eight. A victory over Anderson University in four sets got Coach Ryan Young’s team to the national semifinals for the second straight year before a season-ending loss to Cal State Los Angeles.
The fall semester also saw cross country runner Benjamin VandenBrink become the first runner in school history to qualify to compete in the NCAA Division II Championship.
UMSL’s women’s swimming team, featuring GLVC Freshman of the Year Justice Beard, raced to a 26th overall finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, and their male counterparts placed 31st. Beard and veterans Zara Konstapel and Conley Savage were all two-time All-Americans.
The women’s golf team also qualified for the NCAA tournament, and though it was eliminated with a sixth-place finish in the 15-team East Regional, sophomore Wilma Zanderau advanced to the NCAA Championship as an individual and placed 10th, securing All-American honors for the second straight year.
Senior men’s golfer Cyril Henault captured medalist honors at the GLVC Championship and helped the men’s golf team also qualify for the NCAA tournament. The Tritons placed 13th in the 20-team in the Midwest/Central Regional.
There were 36 UMSL student-athletes chosen for All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors, and Young and Swimming Coach Tony Hernandez were also recognized as GLVC Coaches of the Year – Young garnering the honor for the second consecutive season.
UMSL student-athletes earned even more accolades for their work in the classroom with a school-record-tying 14 teams receiving Academic All-GLVC Awards for posting team GPAs of 3.3 or better. It matched the mark set during the 2020-21 academic year.
The women’s tennis team led the way with a combined GPA of 3.76 and was followed by volleyball (3.70), women’s golf (3.67), women’s cross country (3.63), men’s golf (3.59), softball (3.54), women’s soccer (3.50), men’s tennis (3.47), men’s cross country (3.46), women’s basketball (3.44), women’s track and field (3.44), men’s track and field (3.38), women’s swimming and diving (3.35) and men’s swimming and diving (3.33).
UMSL also saw a school-record 187 student-athletes receive Academic All-GLVC recognition after posting GPAs of 3.3 or higher. All 19 were sports represented on the list. That was an increase from last year’s record mark of 174. In all, 68% of UMSL student-athletes were honored – 95 of them for at least the second time in their careers.
The GLVC selected 16 UMSL student-athletes to be recipients of the Brother James Gaffney FSC Distinguished Scholar Award, named in honor of the former president of Lewis University and two-term chair of the GLVC Council of Presidents and presented annually to student-athletes who achieve a 4.0 GPA during the course of an academic year. The honorees were baseball player Zach Beatty; men’s basketball player Brennan Weller; men’s cross country and track and field runner Jacob Warner; men’s track and field runner Luke Hall; women’s golfers Linn Thornqvist and Ebba Wernered; women’s soccer player Josie Maddox; softball players Ashley Borowitz, McKenzie Lamos, May Pasqualini and Katie Schaake; men’s swimmer Jaxson Mahlstadt; women’s swimmers Rebecca Bechtel, Lily Franzen and Zara Konstapel; and volleyball player Skylar Weaver. Warner, Thornqvist, Borowitz, Bechtel, Franzen and Konstapel were each recognized for the second straight year.
There were 40 UMSL student-athletes who earned the GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award after exhausting their eligibility while maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA throughout their careers. They included baseball players Trent Anderson, Grant Brunstetter, Brady Krile, Kameron Laskowski and Sam Bledsoe; men’s basketball player Mayson Quartlebaum; women’s basketball player Tori Standefer; men’s golfers Cyril Henault, Rob Hogan and Zach Unnerstall; women’s golfers Momo Kikuchi, Victoria Klausner and Linn Thornqvist; men’s soccer player Gabe Stanislawski; women’s soccer player Candice Parziani; softball players McKenzie Lamos, Rebecca Littrel, Katie Schaake, Maddie Snemis and Irene Travis; men’s swimmers Jaxson Mahlstadt, Guillem Masjuan Roca, Will Nickel and Conley Savage; women’s swimmers Rebecca Bechtel, Lily Franzen, Zara Konstapel, Brooklyn Messenger and Maria Serra; men’s tennis players Raphael Kerndl, Jose Mayorga and Marcos Navas; women’s tennis players Anna Domingo and Maja Lietzau; and volleyball players Kylie Adams, Karlie Dean, Mya Elliott, Hailey Flowers, Raina Forstrom and Lexie Rang.
There were also national academic awards in individual sports.
The men’s basketball team received the National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence award, which is given to teams that finished the 2023-24 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. Four Tritons – seniors Sam Bledsoe and Mayson Quartlebaum and juniors Emanuel Prospere II and Savon Wykle – were named to the NABC Honors Court which recognizes upperclassmen who have maintained GPAs of 3.2 or higher and matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
Rang was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America second team in volleyball, and the Tritons received the 2023-24 American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award, marking the 10th straight year it has captured that honor.
Konstapel was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America second team in women’s swimming for the second straight year. She is the first Triton swimmer, male or female, to earn the distinction twice in a career and is the fourth UMSL student-athlete to earn multiple Academic All-America honors joining Bob Bone, Dave Rhoads and Charlotte Richards.
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association named five UMSL golfers – seniors Momo Kikuchi, Victoria Klausner, Linn Thornqvist, and Ebba Wernered and junior Juliette Lecomte – All-American Scholars for maintaining minimum GPAs of 3.5 and playing in at least 50% of their school’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
