Even with the cancelation of the 2020 fall season, the University of Minnesota Duluth still had a very successful 2020-21 year, and it all started with a 5-0 women's hockey win over Minnesota State University on Friday, November 20th and ended with UMD women's track and field student-athlete Haleigh Reindl's 7th place NCAA All-American finish on May 22nd. Bulldog athletics compiled an array of accomplishments in each of the three C's (competition, classroom and community) during the course of the 2020-21 athletic season.
 
"Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic, the student-athletes, coaches and staff of Bulldog Athletics continued to excel and achieve at the highest level.  I could not be more proud of the sacrifice and dedication our teams made in order to compete and succeed.  Competitive and academic achievement are pillars of Bulldog Athletics and 2020-21 was no exception.  We look forward to having Bulldog Country back in the stands this Fall." -- summarized UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo.
 

 
Those notable accomplishments included:
 
COMPETITION
 
• Five Bulldog programs advanced to NCAA tournament competition in 2020-21.  These included: women's hockey, women's basketball, women's indoor & outdoor track and field and men's hockey.
 
 • The UMD women's basketball team captured their second straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Northern Division title this season, finishing with a 9-1 record in the NSIC. The Bulldogs would go on to beat St. Cloud State in the NSIC Tournament Championship game and claim their second tournament title in just three years. They qualified for their third consecutive NCAA Tournament and made it to the NCAA Regional semifinals before falling to the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers. Junior forward Brooke Olson was named as both a WBCA DII first team All-American (second straight year) and a D2CCA second team All-American. In addition to the All-American honors, Olson was named as the NSIC North's Player of the Year for the second straight year and to the NSIC first team All-Conference. Senior forward Sarah Grow joined in, being named to the NSIC North second team All-Conference as well as the NSIC North Defensive team (second year in a row for both honors), while senior guard Ann Simonet was named to the NSIC North's second team All-Conference.
 
• The Bulldogs finished in the top thirty-five nationally in seven different team stat categories and were ranked in every single WBCA Coaches Poll and D2 Sports Information Directors Association poll during the 2020-21 season. UMD was ranked as high as sixth in the country in the WBCA Poll (Feb 2, 2021, Feb 9, 2021, Feb 16, 2021) and the D2sida Poll (Feb. 8-9, 2021, Feb. 16, 2021). The ranking of sixth best in the country stands as the best ever national ranking for the University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball program.
 
• The UMD men's hockey team finished the 2020-21 shortened season with a 15-11-2 record (13-9-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference record) in their 77th season. The Bulldogs took third in the NCHC's overall standings and made it to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals before losing to St. Cloud State University. UMD qualified for their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament (best active streak in the NCAA DI men's hockey) and their eighth in the last 10 seasons. The Bulldogs advanced past Michigan (due to covid protocols, the Wolverines were forced to bow out of the tournament) and went on to face the University of North Dakota in the NCAA Regional Tournament championship. In the longest game in both UMD men's and women's hockey and the NCAA men's and women's hockey tournament history, it was freshman forward Luke Mylymok who netted the 3-2 game winner at the 142:13-minute mark. It took a total of five overtimes (eight periods) for the game to conclude.  After beating UND, the Bulldogs qualified for their fourth consecutive NCAA Frozen Four (the first time such a feat has been accomplished since UND back in 2005-08). UMD would ultimately fall to the University of Massachusetts 3-2 in overtime.
 
• Three Bulldogs signed NHL deals at the conclusion of the UMD men's hockey season. Forwards Jackson Cates (Philadelphia Flyers), Cole Koepke (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Nick Swaney (Minnesota Wild) all signed entry level deals, with Koepke and Swaney both being assigned to the American Hockey League for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
 
• Two other former Bulldogs made their NHL debuts this past season. Forwards Jackson Cates (Philadelphia Flyers) and Justin Richards (New York Rangers) each played in their first NHL
games before the end of the 2020-21 NHL regular season. Cates finished the year with four games played, an assist, a -1 rating and seven shots. Richards played in one game, dished an assist, played in 10:11 of ice time and had two shots. A total of 63 former Bulldogs have laced up the skates in the National Hockey League. 
 
• The UMD women's hockey program made their first NCAA Frozen Four appearance in a decade this season after defeating Colgate 1-0 in overtime, UMD's first NCAA Quarterfinal win since 2010.  UMD finished the season 12-7-0 with a .688 winning percentage, its highest since the 2016-17 NCAA tournament season and second-highest of head coach Maura Crowell's tenure.  It also marks the third highest of the last decade. Senior defenseman Ashton Bell was named both a 2020-21 USCHO First Team All-American and a 2020-21 CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American.  Bell finished the season the seventh-highest scoring defenseman in the nation and second highest in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists.  The offensive blueliner was named the WCHA's Defenseman of the Year, as well as an All-WCHA First Team selection. She has also been centralized with the Canadian National Women's team for the 2021-22 season.
 
 • Goaltender Emma Soderberg, who like Bell, turned in one of the most decorated seasons from a netminder in program history, was named both a 2020-21 USCHO Second Team All-American, as well as a 2020-21 CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American. Soderberg cleaned up every WCHA honor available to her, ending with the WCHA Goaltender of the Year and All-WCHA First Team honors as well as the WCHA's 2020-21 Goaltending Champion. UMD landed a USCHO Third Team All-American in senior captain Anna Klein, who had the fourth most points in the WCHA and 11th in the NCAA and was All-WCHA Second Team member. Klein led the Bulldogs in scoring with 11 goals and 11 assists for a total of 22 points in 19 games.
 
• Not even a shortened season could stop University of Minnesota Duluth Women's Track and Field student-athlete Haleigh Reindl from having yet another banner Indoor Track and Field Season. Reindl and the Bulldogs only had three regular season meets before having to compete at the NSIC's Indoor Track and Field Championships. For Reindl, the lack of work preceding the conference meet didn't matter as she proceeded to run what would be her fastest time (2:11.77) in the 800-meter run of the 2020-21 Indoor season. That time was good for second in the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships and was fast enough to qualify as an NCAA II provisional mark. Her provisional qualifying mark would lead her back to the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.  Armed with another shot at NCAA lore, Reindl made the most of her opportunities. In the 800-meter run preliminaries Reindl took care of business and battled adversity along the way. Reindl got tied up with another runner during her second lap of the race, losing a shoe in the process. The mishap proved to only be a bump in the road as she finished third in the second heat, and in doing so automatically qualified for the 800-meter championship race. In the championship race Reindl finished sixth posting a time of 2:12.33 and finished the indoor season as the sixth best track and field athlete in the 800-meter run. On the outdoor side of things, she wasn't done. Reindl finished second at the NSIC outdoor track and field championship in the 800-meter with a 2:09.22, which was an NCAA DII provisional qualifier and slotted her in as the eighth fastest runner. She finished at the NCAA II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in seventh place with a 2:08.77 time, a PR for Reindl. It also qualifies her for All-American status.
 
• While volleyball, soccer and football did not compete in any competitive seasons this fall or spring due to the covid pandemic, they did manage to take part in a few scrimmages over the spring semester as they prepare for next year.
 
CLASSROOM
 
• Overall, UMD's almost 400 student-athletes -- which includes redshirt freshmen -- collectively posted an all-time high GPA of 3.45 this past fall and followed it up with an impressive 3.43 GPA this spring. The women's tennis team registered the best overall team GPA at a 3.73 semester, while the top men's program was the men's cross country team with a 3.50 semester GPA.  The yearly GPA was an ALL-TIME RECORD of 3.42!
 
• A total of 178 different UMD student-athletes qualified for a spot on the NSIC All-Academic Team (record 61 in the fall, 48 in the winter and record 69 in the spring) at some point in 2020-21. In addition, a whopping 15 Bulldog men earned All-Academic Team status form the NCHC with six (Ben Almquist, Noah Cates, Ryan Fanti, Cole Koepke, Tanner Laderoute (three times) and Luke Loheit (two times)) receiving NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition. UMD women's hockey also landed several Bulldogs (17 to be exact) on the 2020-21 WCHA All-Academic Team, comprised of student-athletes who have completed one year of eligibility at their present institution, prior to the current academic year and have a GPA of at least 3.0 for the previous two semesters or three quarters.
 
• A school-record 14 University of Minnesota Duluth seniors – Madison Biebel (women's track and field), Jessica Bren (softball), Anders Brown (baseball), Natalie Cahill (tennis), Eric Chromy (men's track and field), Jenna Eichten (soccer), Megan Freeberg (volleyball), Henry George (baseball), Camille Harmer (women's track and field), Shannon King (soccer), Taylor Koehnen (softball), Lexy Langenfeld (volleyball), Lindsay Maruska (women's track and field) and Rhianna Rinke (women's track and field) -- representing seven sports, have earned a NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award for 2020-21. The honor, named for the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, is bestowed upon NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher and are on track to graduate after the season.
 
• The NSIC Elite 18 Award, which goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 Championships, was bestowed to Bulldog senior Kendall Hill (men's indoor track and field) for the fourth year.
 
• University of Minnesota Duluth women's tennis student-athlete, Natalie Cahill, was awarded the Darland All-American Scholarship. Each year, faculty and staff are invited to nominate a student for the Darland All-American Scholarship. Nominees show the potential to contribute to America's future based on their character, citizenship, leadership, and values. 

COMMUNITY
 
• The Bulldogs managed to stay engaged via virtual options despite the limited ability to volunteer face to face.  The debut of "Bulldog Coffee Breaks" featuring alumni of various athletic programs along with "Bulldog Updates" with head coaches. 
 
• Bulldog student-athletes continued their work with the "Green Bandana Project". At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the conversation about mental health on college campuses to the forefront, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has been right there to ensure that the conversation here at UMD -- and among its student-athletes -- stays front and center. The Green Bandana Project is a year-long mental health awareness campaign that is run by student-athletes but reaches out to everyone across the Duluth community. The initiative first made its way to NSIC/SAAC and then to UMD in the fall of 2019, when a group of five student-athletes who were part of UMD SAAC's mental health subcommittee knew that the campaign was too important to ignore. 
 
• During the "Week of Champions" presented by Northland Subway, the Bulldogs award individuals in recognition of the COMMUNITY.  For the first time in the Shjon Podein Community Service Award history, a Bulldog staff member was honored, head men's basketball coach Justin Wieck for his work with Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference risetovote.org campaign.  The Bulldogs also announced the UMD Team Impact Award, which this year took on special meaning. The recipients this year were the Bulldog Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for their work with the "Green Bandana Project" and football assistant coach Marcus McLin for his work with the UMD student group "Black Men Serving Excellence (BMSE)".
 
 
NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
• Former National Hockey League all-star defenseman Jason Garrison returned to Minnesota Duluth as a men's hockey undergraduate student assistant coach to finish his degree.
 
• Chancellor Dr. Lendley (Lynn) Black announced that the University of Minnesota Duluth has signed Athletic Director Josh Berlo to a three-year contract extension to stay in Bulldog Country. UMD's contract extension acknowledges the tremendous program-wide multidisciplinary success of Bulldog Athletics under Berlo's leadership. UMD Athletics continues to be one of the most respected and accomplished Division I / II Athletic Departments in the NCAA. This new contract will keep Berlo in Duluth through June 2026. 
 
• The University of Minnesota Duluth and women's hockey head coach Maura Crowell agreed to a four-year contract extension that will keep her behind the Bulldog bench through the 2025-26 season. Crowell's Bulldogs made their first NCAA Frozen Four appearance since the 2010 season after defeating Colgate 1-0 in overtime on March 15, 2021, in Erie, Penn., UMD's first NCAA Quarterfinal win in a decade. 
 
• Laura Harmon, whose coaching resume includes 12 seasons of leadership at the collegiate level, was named the University of Minnesota Duluth's head men's & women's cross country and track and field coach. Harmon had overseen the UMD women's cross country and track and field programs for the last three seasons.
 
• The University of Minnesota Duluth athletic department announced its comprehensive Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program – THE BULLDOG ADVANTAGE.  The BULLDOG ADVANTAGE program is a multi-unit collaboration that will be provided to Bulldog student-athletes as they engage in NIL activities. UMD Athletics will continue to adapt and expand this program for the benefit of Bulldog student-athletes during their time at UMD, for their endeavors and careers inside or outside of athletics, and beyond.
 
• On the development and fundraising front, the Bulldogs continued to have success raising funds during the past fiscal year, which ended on June 30. The Bulldogs have now generated over $11.5 million during the past ten years from nearly 2,000 donors annually. These totals include current gifts and future gifts to the Bulldog Club Annual Fund, named scholarships, program support, capital projects, facility enhancements, as well as through various fundraising events.
 
• The debut of the Bulldog Feature pieces --- starting with UMD Women's Basketball. UMD Bulldog Feature Series begins with contributor Pete LaFleur.  The Bulldogs will be debuting feature pieces on its programs throughout the upcoming athletic season.