A pair of multi-year All-Americans -- distance runner Morgan Place and hockey center Jack Connolly -- were bestowed with the University of Minnesota Duluth's Outstanding Male and Female Senior Athlete Awards for 2011-12 at the second annual Dinner with Champions banquet on Wednesday night (May 2) at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center while Allison Fanta (volleyball), Kenny Reiter (men's hockey) and Emma Van Winkle (women's basketball) all received this year's E.L. "Duce" Rasmussen Award as the school's top scholar-athletes

In addition, senior offensive guard Cory Flesch 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.

The night also included the unveiling of the Chancellor's Cup, which was to the women's basketball Bulldogs for for maintaining the best collective GPA during the last two semesters (3.51) of any UMD team.

Since her arrival on the UMD campus in 2008, Place has secured All-American recognition a school-record eight times (three in cross country, four in indoor track and one in outdoor track) while qualifying for 11 of a possible 12 NCAA Division II national meets (four cross country, three indoor track and four outdoor track). In cross country, she won 22 of 35 career races, including the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title as both a freshman and sophomore and the 2008 NCAA II Central Regional crown. Place owns the three top national finishes ever turned in by a Bulldog, taking fifth place in 2010, sixth in 2009 and seventh in 2008. The Ellsworth, Wis., native was a three-time 5,000-meter indoor track All-American, with her best effort (fourth place) coming as a freshman. In addition, she was also part of a UMD distance medley relay team which finished third at the NCAA II indoors. Place's other All-American citation came on the outdoor surface in 2010 when she took seventh in the 10,000-meter run. In all, she has captured seven NSIC individual championships (3,000-meter indoors in 2008 and 2009, 10,000-meter outdoors in 2009 and 2010, 5,000-meter outdoors in 2009 and 2010 and 5,000-meter indoor champion in 2010) while being selected the 2010 NSIC Outdoor Athlete of the Year and the 2009 NSIC Indoor and Outdoor Newcomer of the Year. Place currently is the owner of five individual school records, including a pair (10,000-meter run and 3,000-meter steeplechase), which she set earlier this spring.

Connolly put an exclamation point on the most decorated playing career in the 68-year history of UMD hockey this past spring when he walked off with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the most outstanding collegiate player in the country. The first Bulldog to ever be named a Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist twice and the first to earn All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association first team status three times, Connolly ranked second in the nation in both scoring (a career-high 60 points -- the most by any Buldog in eight years) and assists (40) during his farewell collegiate go-around. For his efforts, he attained All-American recognition for a third time (first team in 2011-12 and 2010-11 and second team as a sophomore), something only one other Bulldog -- defenseman Norm Maciver (1983-86) -- had ever done before. He wrapped up the 2011-12 regular season as the WCHA scoring champion, racking up 43 points (16 goals and 27 assists) in league play. That was six more points than his next closest competitor and highest scoring yield by any player in six years. The 2011-12 WCHA Player of the Year and this year's recipient of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, Connolly amassed 66 goals and 131 assists for 197 career points (far and away the highest figure by any active NCAA skater), which placed him in the No. 8 spot on UMD's all-time scoring charts.  Going back to the end of his freshman season, the Duluth, Minn., native was held pointless for more than one game in a row only twice (on Jan. 27-28, 2012 when he was blanked in both ends of the Michigan Tech University series, which terminated his school single-season record 22-game scoring streak, and on Jan. 23 and Jan. 29, 2010). He  went without a goal or an assist only six times this winter and in those six outings the Bulldogs were a mere 1-4-1. Connolly, the nation's top returning scorer from a year ago (he finished third in the NCAA with a career-high 59 points), was the first Bulldog to post back-to-back 50-point seasons since Marinucci turned the trick in 1993-94 (61) and 1992-93 (77). The three-time WCHA All-Academic Team honoree never missed a game as a collegian, skating in a school-record 166 consecutive outings since he joined the Bulldog program three years ago. As a senior, Connolly captained UMD to a 25-10-6 overall record, a second-place WCHA finish and its third NCAA tournament berth in the past four years. He served as an assistant team captain with the Bulldogs in 2010-11 when they skated away with the program's first national championship.

Fanta, a defensive specialist from Hillsboro, Wis., has compiled a 3.97 cumulative grade point average while double majoring in business management and accounting. A CoSIDA Academic All-America second team honoree last fall, Fanta was UMD's nominee for the 2011-12 Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award (top female student-athlete in the NSIC). The three-time NSIC All-Academic Team qualifier also earned a NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award as a senior. On the volleyball court, she handled a starting defensive specialist role during each of the past four seasons and this past fall as team co-captain ranked third among Bulldogs in serve reception percentage with a career-high .959 mark.

Reiter, who owns a 3.57 cumulative GPA, is a four-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award winner (a program first). He completed his undergraduate degree in finance last December and is currently enrolled in UMD's MBA program.  The Pittsburgh, Pa., native and 2011-12 All-WCHA second team pick exited the Bulldog hockey program as its all-time leader in both goals against average (2.38) and saves percentage (.912). He also holds a share of the team record for lifetime shutouts with nine and finished fourth all-time in victories (he was 52-26-11 overall). As he junior, Reiter backstopped the Bulldogs to their first national title ever while turning in the third best single-season goals against average (2.30) and saves percentage (.914) in team history.

Van Winkle, a Des Moines, Iowa product, is double majoring in anthropology and history and has a 3.94 cumulative GPA to show for it. She has attained NSIC All-Academic Team honors on three occasions and this past season received a NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award. A member of the College of Liberal Arts Dean's List all seven of her semesters at UMD, Van Winkle captained the Bulldogs in 2011-12 and, as a first-year starting center, paced the NSIC in blocked shots (2.56 per game) en route to corralling a spot on the league's All-Defensive team.

Over the past five years, Flesch has been heavily involved in a number of volunteering endeavors, including "Turf Time" at the Boy and Girls Club of Duluth, the Grant Elementary Reading Program, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Udac's Walk A Mile In Our Shoes Walkathon. The Monticello, Minn. native and 2011 Bulldog team co-captain also lent his services at the Lion's Club Pancake Day, the Courage Center of Duluth and at various local elementary school carnivals. He spent two years helping local youths learn ways to successfully practice a combination of valuable life skills and success in athletics through a partnership with Men as Peacemakers and the City of Duluth.