Many St. Thomas student athletes are flying to warmer weather for spring break training on their own dime, but some say their money is well spent.
“It’s absolutely worth (spending the money), especially after this spring,” senior golfer Michael Mortenson said. “It’s definitely going to be worth it to get out of the cold and go somewhere warm and enjoy the sun a little bit.”
Many of the men’s and women’s teams will be traveling to various competitions all across the country. While St. Thomas covers some of the trips’ expenses, student athletes must pay for their own airfare. The only exception are athletes who are invited to compete in NCAA championships. In this case, the NCAA will reimburse travel expenses.
“You’ll find this to be pretty standard across Division III,” Athletic Director Steve Fritz said.
Division I schools’ big budgets generally cover athletes’ travel expenses, but schools like St. Thomas have to be more frugal with their athletic budgets.
“That’s probably the difference between Division I and Division III,” Sports Information Director Gene McGivern said. “We don’t have those big revenue generators to cover that kind of thing.”
St. Thomas teams use a travel agent to get the best price for the entire group. That way, no athlete is stuck searching for deals or sorting out logistics alone.
Softball player Jenna Hoffman said athletes are willing to overlook the cost of funding a portion of their trip because they can get more games in all while bonding with teammates.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Hoffman said. “It’s nice to get outside and get on an actual field. You really get to know the team a lot better since it’s still early in the season.”
While the school covers housing and meal costs for students, coaches and a limited number of their staff are covered under each team’s sports budget.
“The general policy for the spring break trips is the athletes do pay their airfare. We pay for housing and food for the team,” Fritz said.
The average price per ticket reported by each student athlete was between $400 and $500, depending on how many bags each athlete checks.
Although the price of a plane ticket may seem high for some college students, golfer Cassy Norton said that when you consider the total cost of a spring break trip, the $400 or $500 price tag seems feasible.
“We just have to pay for the plane ticket, so it’s actually a pretty good deal,” Norton said.
Where teams are playing
This year, St. Thomas has eight teams traveling to three different states to compete during spring break.
Seven athletes are competing in the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships in Conroe, Texas, March 22 and 23. Michael Lanz on the men’s team will compete in both butterfly events. Swimmers Wendy Consoer, Erin Hogan, Mariann Kukielka, Emily Punyko, Averi Splinter, and Hayley Trace represent the women’s team on two relays.
The St. Thomas baseball team will play in Winter Haven, Fla., where it’s scheduled to face Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Fontbonne (Mo.), University of Chicago, DePauw (Ind.), and the Minnesota Twins rookie team.
The men’s golf team will play six rounds in Destin, Fla., including a tournament called the Tommie-Johnnie Cup. The women’s golf team plays in Phoenix, Ariz., beginning March 23.
The men’s tennis team will take their annual trip to Hilton Head, S.C. It is scheduled to play Bethune Cookman, University of Chicago, Virginia Wesleyan, and Concordia (Wis.).
The St. Thomas women’s tennis team will join the men’s team in Hilton Head, S.C. The Tommies will square off against Converse College, Concordia (Wis.), Virginia Wesleyan, and University of Chicago.
The women’s softball team will play in Clermont, Fla., against Carroll (Wis.), University of Chicago, Union (N.Y.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Concordia (Wis.), West Connecticut State, Wisconsin-River Falls, and Buena Vista (Iowa).
Trevor Walstrom can be reached at wals0505@stthomas.edu.