This last year was one of historic firsts for the St. Catherine University athletics department. The school saw its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) women's tennis championship – which was just the second in any sport in school history. 

It was also a year of successful turnarounds and record-breaking performances. And to wrap it all up, the department handed out its end of the year awards with senior swimmer Steffanie Jurusik (Starkville, Miss.) taking home the top honor – McCahill Athlete of the Year – Sunday evening. 

Jurusik finished her storied career at St. Catherine with her second individual MIAC Champion crown in as many years – this time in the 200 Individual Medley with an MIAC record performance – and picked up an All-MIAC third-place finish in the 400 IM at the 2013 conference meet. Her final meet also included a fifth-place finish in the 200 Butterfly – an event in which she broke a 20-year St. Catherine record earlier in the season – and a school record-breaking sixth-place finish on the 800 Freestyle Relay team. Jurusik leaves St. Catherine as one of the most decorated swimmers in program history holding five indvidual school records and five relay records. 

For the first time this year, the department also recognized finalists in the Athlete of the Year and Rookie of the Year categories. Along with Jurusik, tennis players Victoria Bravo (Tucson, Ariz.) and Michaele Burroughs (Waterloo, Neb.) earned finalist nominations for the Athlete of the Year after they both helped the Wildcats to their first MIAC championship and an undefeated 10-0 MIAC record. 

Bravo finished her first year as a Wildcat with a flawless 10-0 MIAC record at No. 1 singles and a 9-1 record at No. 1 doubles. She was the highest-ranked MIAC tennis player in the Central Region, earned All-MIAC honors in singles and doubles and was named the Central Region Player to Watch last week. Bravo lost just twice in non-conference singles play this year – both to players ranked in the top-10 in the West Region. 

Burroughs concluded her impressive four years with Wildcat tennis earning the top MIAC women's tennis award – the Chris Evert Award which recognizes a senior tennis student-athlete with outstanding sportsmanship and exemplary athletic, academic and humanitarian accomplishments. Burroughs was 12-4 this year at No. 2 singles and earned All-MIAC honors in both singles and doubles play. She also ranks No. 5 all-time at St. Catherine in career doubles wins. 

The department also recognizes student-athletes who have made consistent contributions to the athletic department through athleticism, scholarship, dedication, sportsmanship and leadership with the Sheila Brown Wildcat Award. This year, Rachael Gasperetti (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Liesl Wolf (Minnetonka, Minn.) were each recipients of the tremendous honor. 

Gasperetti is a four-year letter winner with the hockey team and served as a senior captain who helped lead the Wildcats to the MIAC playoffs as the No. 5 seed this year. The forward finished her collegiate career with eight goals, 21 assists and 27 points having played in 98 games. The dietetics major has served as a two-year member of the Wildcat Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (WSAAC) and recently earned the Thomas More Award which recognizes St. Catherine students who show outstanding loyalty, service, integrity and campus spirit. Gasperetti also worked as an athletics tour guide and orientation leader for the University.

Wolf is a four-year letter winner for the soccer team and helped the team to its best finish in recent history. This season, she lead the team in assists (6) which was seventh in the MIAC and earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors. She is a two-time Academic All-MIAC awardee and was the only MIAC player to receive Capital One Academic All-District First-Team honors this season. The senior defender was a 2011 recipient of the SCU Center for Women Student Leadership Award, also earned the Thomas More Award last month and traveled to Haiti to visit finalists for the Opus Prize ceremony this fall. 

The Rookie of the Year honor was given to soccer player Elly Leyva (San Jacinto, Calif.) who helped the Wildcats to a 9-8 season after going just 1-17 in 2011. The first-year forward tallied five goals, three assists and 13 points and led the Wildcats in goals (3) and points (6) in conference games. Leyva was crucial to the Wildcats' success as she scored three game-winners including the lone goal in the team's first victory over Carleton College in program history. 

The remaining finalists for the Rookie of the Year award included swimmer Haley French Krahn (Rochester, Minn.) and softball pitcher Lindsey Klein (Shoreview, Minn.). French Krahn broke school records in the 1000 and 1650 Freestyle events with her impressive MIAC performance and is now third all-time at St. Catherine in the 100 Breaststroke. Klein pitched back-to-back shutouts to help the Wildcats sweep Gustavus Adolphus College for the first time in program history and her 1.67 earned run average (ERA) in conference games was ranked fifth among all MIAC pitchers this season. 

Each year the department also recognizes a member of the St. Catherine athletics community who has shown outstanding support for Wildcat athletics. This year's recipient is St. Catherine staff member Scott Pakudaitis of Institutional Research, Planning and Assement. Pakudaitis has long been a dedicated supporter of Wildcat athletics by supporting all teams on the playing field as well as showing his willingness to lend a hand whenever needed at any event. 

The final department award recognized the team with the highest GPA for the year. This year's top team was cross country with a cumulative team GPA of 3.506, with softball coming in second and track and field in third. 

The event also included recognition of first, second, third and fourth-year letter winners and MIAC award winners including All-MIAC, All-MIAC Honorable Mention and All-Sportsmanship winners. Head Tennis Coach Ben Hageseth and his squad were also recognized for their impressive and historic MIAC season. 

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