Four-time volleyball All-American Vicky Braegelmann and record-breaking basketball guard Jordan Nuness were named the University of Minnesota Duluth's Outstanding Senior Athletes for 2007-08 at the annual Bulldog Senior Showcase Banquet Friday night (April 18) while volleyball outside hitter Danielle Beckstrand and middle distance runner Jared Clementson received this year's E.L. \"Duce\" Rasmussen Award as the school's top-scholar athletes.



Arguably the most-decorated athlete in school history, Braegelmann put an exclamation point on her remarkable four-year playing career last November by landing her second consecutive AVCA Division II National Player of the Year award. The right side hitter from Albany, Minn. became just the third individual ever to win the honor in back-to-back seasons and is the only Division II athlete from UMD to be named national player of the year in any sport. Braegelmann helped lead UMD to four straight North Central Conference championships, four NCAA II playoff appearances, two NCAA II Elite Eight berths, 54 consecutive top 10 rankings in the AVCA weekly poll, and a eye-popping 114-16 overall record -- including a 45-8 mark in NCC play -- during her four seasons in a Bulldog uniform. One of only two players to ever land AVCA All-American recognition on four occasions, Braegelmann exited the Bulldog program as its all-time leader in both kills (1,845) and attack percentage (.360). The three-time NCC Player of the Year and four-time All-NCC honoree was also a member the North Central Regional All-Tournament Team in 2006 and 2007, the NCAA Division II Elite Eight All-Tournament Team in 2006 and the AVCA All-North Central Regional Team four straight seasons. Braegelmann, a nominee for the Collegiate Women Sports Award Division II Athlete of the Year in both 2006-07 and 2007-08, served as a Bulldog team captain this past fall.



Nuness, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn., saved his best basketball for last as he tied for second in the 2007-08 NCC scoring raced with a career-high 17.8 points per game average en route to securing All-NCC honors. He also paced the NCC in three points field goals (100) this past winter. Nuness, who transferred to UMD in the fall of 2005 after spending the previous year at the University of Minnesota, established school records for most three point field goals made in a season (100) and in a career (241) and wound up holding down the No. 22 spot on the Bulldogs’ all-time scoring charts with 1,231 points in three years of competition. The third-year starter and 2007-08 team captain was an All-NCC honorable mention pick as a junior.



Beckstrand maintains a 3.62 cumulative grade point average as an elementary education major (she'll receive her degree next fall) and qualified for the NCC Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of the past two seasons. The 2007 NCC All-Academic Team selection was also volleyball representative on UMD's Athletic Academic Support Center List for compiling the best grade point average of any Bulldog during both the 2006-07 school year. On the court, Beckstrand started three years and attained AVCA All-North Central Region (honorable mention), All-NCC (honorable mention), and North Central Regional All-Tournament acclaim as a senior. A native of Baudette, Minn. and a 2004 graduate of Lake of the Woods High School, Beckstrand captained UMD to a 29-2 overall record and its fourth straight NCC title this past fall.

Clementson is currently in his fourth, and final season with the Bulldog track team and was also a three-year lettermen in cross country. The Pine City, Minn., product has compiled a 3.40 GPA while majoring in elementary/middle school education and will graduate from UMD next December. He has been a member of the NCC Commissioners Honor Roll three straight years and was also chosen to the 2007 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II All-Academic Team. Earlier this spring, Clementson, the Bulldogs' 2008 team captain, snared All-American honors after placing fifth at the NCAA II Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 800 meters. He holds the distinction of being UMD’s only two-time individual NCC champion, winning the 800-meter outdoor titles in both 2006 and 2007 after finishing fourth in that event as a freshman. Clementson, who will graduate from UMD next December, owns the UMD 800-meter outdoor record and is part of the record-holding sprint medley relay team as well.



In addition, junior hockey forward Tawni Mattila of Duluth (Central High School) was bestowed with the Shjon Podein Community Service Award, which has been presented annually since 2003 to a UMD student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the field of play and has made noteworthy humanitarian contributions in the Duluth and UMD communities. Over the past three years, Mattila has been involved in a number of volunteering endeavors, including a stint in the physical therapy department at the Duluth Clinic where she spent 8-10 hours per week last summer interacting with patients. She's also volunteered her time working with young children at Lowell Elementary School and the Gnesen Town Hall, as a tutor at Hermantown Elementary School and as a hockey coach with the Proctor Bantam A boy's and Minnesota Select girl's teams. For the last six years, Mattila has participated in the local Buddy Walk, an annual event which raises money and awareness for people with Down's Syndrome. Mattila, an alternate team captain this winter with the NCAA champion Bulldogs, was a 2007-08 WCHA Scholar-Athlete and an WCHA All-Academic Team pick.