For the first time in school history, the University of Minnesota Duluth's Outstanding Female Senior Athlete Award will be shared by four individuals -- Emmanuelle Blais (hockey), Jheri Booker (basketball), Clare Dahmen (soccer) and Kristin Danielson (softball) -- while football center Tobias Lemke is the 2009-10 Outstanding Male Athlete. He, along with softball first baseman Sarah Kabes, also received this year's E.L. "Duce" Rasmussen Award as the school's top scholar-athletes at the annual Bulldog Senior Showcase Banquet Monday night (April 12).

After arriving on the UMD campus in 2008-09 following two years at Tennessee State University, Booker proceeded to help put the Bulldog basketball program back on the national radar. This past winter, the 5-10 forward from Summerville, Ga. , became the first female to be bestowed with both the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. She followed that up with selections to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America first team (something which only one other Bulldog had ever done previously) and the Women's Division II Bulletin All-America second team. Booker, a two-time All-NSIC pick and Defensive Player of the Year honoree, averaged 20.6 points per game overall this winter -- a figure unmatched by any league hoopster -- and finished in double figures in each of the Bulldogs' 31 outings. She also paced the NSIC in steals (3.1 per night) in 2009-10 and equaled a club single-season mark for thefts with 99 as a junior. UMD, which was 4-23 the year before Booker became a Bulldog, went 16-12 in 2008-09 and 20-11 this winter (which included their first visit to the NCAA II Tournament in five years).

Dahmen, a four-year starting midfielder/forward, put an exclamation point on an outstanding senior season by collecting 11 goals and adding four assists for 26 points -- the highest offensive output by a Bulldog since 2003. The Hopkins, Minn., product also paced the NSIC in game-winning goals with eight in 2009 en route to securing Daktronics All-America second team, NSCAA All-Central Region first team, Daktronics All-Central Region first Team, and All-NSIC first team (for the second straight year) honors as well as a spot on the NSIC/U.S. Bank All-Tournament Team. Dahmen, who captained UMD to the 2009 NSIC Tournament title and the school's first-ever NCAA II playoff victory (2-0 over Minnesota State University-Mankato on Nov. 13), concluded her collegiate playing days ranking eighth among Bulldogs all-time in points (59) and goals (21) and ninth in assists (17). Voted the Most Valuable Player at last November's league tourney, she earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas® Women's College Scholar All-America Third Team accolades as a senior.

Blais definitely saved her best hockey for last as the dynamic winger from Laselle, Quebec, corralled RBK first team All-American status in 2009-10. She averaged 1.59 points per game this past winter, the fifth highest total in the country, while netting an NCAA-high 32 goals and a personal-high 65 points. Besides being a Top-10 Patty Kazamier Award Finalist, Blais also was named to the All-WCHA first team and selected the Most Valuable Player at both the NCAA Frozen Four (after leading UMD to its fifh national title) and WCHA Final Faceoff tournaments. She leaves UMD with 145 career points 73 career goals and 72 assists -- all good for eighth place on the respective UMD all-time charts.. Blais, a three-time All-WCHA Academic Team honoree, was a WCHA Scholar Athlete award recipient in 2007-08.

Danielson is currently in her fourth, and final, year of a record-breaking softball career with the Bulldogs. A three-time all-conference selection and a member of the 2009 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Central Region second team, Danielson will most likely be UMD's all-time leader in virtually every pitching category when her playing days are over (she already owns club marks for most career wins, starts and innings). No slouch at the plate, either, she has compiled a .328 batting average during her Bulldog tenure, including a team-leading .369 figure this spring while hitting out of the clean up position. Thus far in 2010, Danielson has posted a 11-5 record to go with a 1.17 earned run average while captaining a club which is off to an 18-7 overall start and seeking to secure its first NCAA Division II Central Regional berth since 2007. That was the year the Mounds View, Minn., native became the first -- and only -- Bulldog to be named the North Central Conference Freshman of the Year.

Lemke, a native of Essen, Germany, appeared in a school-record 48 outings -- including the final 45 as a starter -- and captained the 2009 Bulldogs to their second straight NSIC title and second NCAA II playoff berth in as many years. In addition to being named a Daktronics All-American, Lemke also attained All-NSIC first team status for the second year in a row as a senior after earning a spot on the Football Gazette All-American second team the previous fall. Lemke's success, however, has not been limited to just the football field at UMD. The three-time NSIC/North Central Conference All-Academic Team qualifier maintains a 3.92 cumulative grade point average while double majoring in political science and criminology. Lemke, who was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American first team in 2009-10 (a UMD football first), is this year's Bulldog nominee for the NSIC Dr. Britton Award for academic excellence and has been awarded a NCAA post graduate scholarship. A National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete finalist this past season, he's also made the College of Liberal Arts Dean's List all seven of his semesters at UMD. Lemke is the sixth male ever, and first since All-American hockey defensemanTom Kurvers in 1983-84, to claim both UMD's Outstanding Senior Athlete and Top Scholar Athlete citations.

Kabes, who has compiled a 3.68 cumulative GPA as a mathematics major, is enjoying her most productive season in a Bulldog uniform this spring. The two-time NSIC All-Academic Team honoree and 2008 NCC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll member is hitting at a career-high .319 clip thus far in 2010 and ranks second among Bulldog in home runs (3) and third in slugging percentage (.486). Kabes, one of 14 finalists for the NSIC Kelly Award (academic excellence), began her UMD career as a catcher and started for two years before moving to first base last year. She served as UMD's team captain as both a sophomore and a junior, when she was limited to just 21 games of action due to a nagging shoulder injury.

In addition, senior soccer midfielder and Chanhassen, Minn., native Kelly Duchene 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 University communities. Since transferring to UMD from the University of Colorado in the fall of 2007, Duchene has been heavily involved in a number of volunteering endeavors such as organizing the soccer Bulldogs' Adopt--A-Family project through the Salvation Army the past two winters, participating in the 2009 and 2010 United Developmental Achievement Center's Walk-A-Mile Campaign, coordinating a clothing drive this December for the Salvation Army, assisting at Animal Allies and the Westwood Senior Apartments, and lending her services in the Grant Elementary School Reading Partner program this semester. A two-time All-NSIC honorable mention selection and a member of the NSIC All-Academic Team as a junior and senior, Duchene was a team co-captain with the 2009 NSIC Tournament champion Bulldogs.