By Sara Eisenhauer
Cardinal Staff
Every year the Cardinal ‘M’ Club brings together Saint Mary’s University alumni and current student athletes to honor their athletic and academic achievements through a weekend of events that reflect the strong traditions of Cardinal athletics. This year was no exception.
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This year’s Cardinal ‘M’ Club weekend, an event sponsored by the alumni athletes of the ‘M’ Club, was held Sept. 13-14 at SMU. The weekend played host to an alumni golf outing, the ‘M’ Club awards and Hall of Fame ceremony, alumni games and a picnic. Bob Biebel, ‘M’ Club Director, feels the weekend is a way for alumni to reconnect with other athletes.
“It’s an opportunity to create a bond with past athletes and current athletes,” Biebel said.
These connections are most apparent at the ‘M’ Club awards program and Hall of Fame induction ceremony that took place Saturday evening. Each year SMU athletes who excelled in their sports are inducted into the SMU Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees included Jen Garin, an All-American fastpitch softball star from the class of 1999; Katie Kortsch, a record-holding female soccer player who graduated in 1995; Dick Kuehl, a two-time Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) champion baseball player from the 1957 class; Dick Kuehl’s brother Duane, a baseball player who was honored posthumously as a 1958 graduate; and Brad Wiley, a two-time All-MIAC conference hockey star from the class of 1990. Biebel believes being inducted is the highest honor a SMU athlete can receive.
“To be inducted speaks volumes about the type of athlete and person you were,” Biebel said.
A glimpse of past excellence gave way to the honoring of today’s athletes. Athletes demonstrating excellence in their respective sports and in academics are named the SMU scholar athletes. Kasey Schultz of swimming and diving and Kevin Black of baseball earned these honors for their performances as seniors in 2007-08. The outstanding male and female athlete of the year awards are given to the students who excel in their given sports. Brady Knudsen, a 2008 graduate and baseball player, and senior softball player Cassie Otte were named the 2007-08 athletes of the year. Nikki Fennern, SMU Athletic director, sees the ceremony as a way to honor athletes that exemplify SMU athletic traditions. Fennern said the ceremony “lets student athletes know that their athletic accomplishments are valued by the university.”
President Brother William Mann opened the ceremony to show university support of athletics. This year’s event displayed heartfelt support and appreciation for Coach Tom Farren, who passed away last year. Farren was honored as MIAC Coach of the Year for men’s golf.
The night also paid tribute to former men’s hockey head coach Don Olson, who stepped down this summer to become the athletic director at the College of St. Scholastica. Biebel and Donny Nadeau, sports information director, honored Coach Olson’s 32 years of service and dedication to hockey and athletics at SMU.
“Don Olson was truly a man who loved what he did,” Biebel said.
The blending of past and present through Cardinal ‘M’ Club weekend began six years ago and continues to stand as a way to show continued success of Cardinal athletics, according to Fennern.
“I think it’s always important to recognize the past and history,” Fennern said. “It’s a way to recognize where we are now and where we are going.”
Biebel agrees and stresses the importance of ‘M’ Club weekend in building athletic traditions.
“We need to start developing stronger traditions,” Biebel said. “This is a way of doing that.”
This year’s event demonstrates the growing tradition of athletics at SMU, with over 400 people in attendance at the awards ceremony. Fennern believes the event is an opportunity to learn about the past through interaction with alumni as well as a chance to honor where athletics is going.
“This is the most visible thing athletics does all year,” Fennern said. “It makes people realize all the good things we are doing.”
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