FOOTBALL Bemidji State completed its 2014 season with an overall record of 3–8. At the conclusion of the season, 10 BSU players earned All-NSIC recognition, including First-Team All-NSIC selections Blake Holder, a freshman receiver from Steamwood, Ill., and Scott Christensen, a senior defensive back from Stockbridge, Ga. Assistant coach Eric Medberry has left the program to pursue other opportunities. He had been a member of Jeff Tesch’s coaching staff for 12 years, the last seven as offensive coordinator. …
SOCCER Under the direction of 13th-year head coach Jim Stone, the Beavers posted a 9–9–1 overall record. The team finished with an 8–6–1 mark in NSIC play, earning the eighth seed in the NSIC Tournament, where it fell in the first round. Following the season, five players earned All-NSIC honors, including first-team honoree Sarah Stram. The sophomore forward from Elk Grove Village, Ill., led the Beavers and ranked fourth in the league with 12 goals, including five game-winners. She the first Beaver to garner First-Team All-NSIC honors since 2010. Stram, who also earned Daktronics All-Region honors, joined teammate Christine Szurek, a sophomore from Andover, on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s All-Central Region Team. The association also honored BSU for its academic performance. Beaver Soccer carried a cumulative GPA of 3.31, earning it an NSCAA Team Academic Award. …
CROSS COUNTRY wrapped up its six-event 2014 campaign at the NCAA Division II Central Regional. Emily Turner, a junior from Windom, led the Beavers with a 95th-place finish. Earlier, she had finished 12th at the NSIC Championships. The team, which carried a 3.23 cumulative grade point average, was one of 128 programs nation-wide to earn United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II All-Academic Team honors. …
VOLLEYBALL finished 5–23 with a 3–17 NSIC record under sixth-year head coach Wayne Chadwick. Following the season, senior Rachel Craig, a middle blocker from Wadena, was named to the Capital One Academic All-District VII Second Team. …
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL finished its season 6–22 overall and 3–19 in NSIC competition. BSU advanced to the NSIC tournament but saw its season come to an end with a first-round loss to Wayne State College. Mike Curfman stepped away from the program at the end of the season, ending a 10-year run as head coach. His teams were 97–176 overall and 57–143 in conference play. His best season came in 2006–07, when he guided the Beavers to a 14–14 record and a fifth-place finish in the NSIC. …
MEN’S BASKETBALL finished 8–19 overall and 4–18 in conference play behind the senior duo of guard Brock Lutes, a Portland, Ore., native who was the NSIC Player of the Year, and center Dillon Floyd from Palm Springs, Calif. The Beavers advanced to the NSIC tournament but fell in the first round to Augustana College. …
INDOOR TRACK and FIELD wrapped up its 2015 indoor campaign at the NSIC Championships. Five BSU athletes established season-best marks at the meet, paced by junior Nicole Crummy. The Wadena native clocked a time of 2:20.60 in the 800m preliminaries to qualify her for the finals, where she finished seventh. In March, head coach Craig Hougen announced his retirement after 26 years as BSU’s track and field mentor. The six-time NSIC Coach of the Year guided the Beavers to two team NSIC championships, and his student-athletes have won five individual national championships with 30 All-Americans and nearly 400 All-NSIC honorees. He also has coached six Academic All-America honorees, and his teams were regularly honored for academic success.