St. Thomas’ winter sports season is in full swing entering the final weeks of the fall semester. All teams are above .500, and four have at least received votes for a national ranking.
Men’s Hockey
Men’s hockey dropped the puck to begin its season Oct. 26 and is 4-3-1 overall, including two wins in the 2018 MIAC hockey showcase.
The team was voted the top team in the MIAC in this season’s conference coaches poll.
The program has won or shared six conference hockey championships in the last eight years under coach Jeff Boeser.
Junior forward Brett Gravelle was awarded his second-career MIAC player of the week award after having a five-point, four-goal weekend during the MIAC Winter Showcase.
“The fact that I was able to score some timely goals for our team is huge,” Gravelle said. “We wanted to start out conference play the right way and luckily we got five out of the six points that weekend.”
Women’s Hockey
The women’s hockey team is on a 23 game regular season win-streak dating back to last season and is currently 10-0. The women are No. 8 in the nation, according to D3Hockey.com.
The team has conceded four goals through its first ten matches, while scoring 34 against its opponents.
Senior goaltender Kenzie Torpy recorded her 50th career victory in net for the Tommies on Nov. 10.
“It’s great to hit a milestone like that, but it’s honestly a team sport,” Torpy said. “We would not be 10-0 if it weren’t for my defense and my offense. We’re all one team, and that’s a big thing for us.”
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team is No. 3 in the D3Hoops.com poll and was ranked first in the MIAC coaches preseason poll for the eighth-consecutive year.
“We have a really great team this year,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “We have many goals as a group this season, but we need to take it game by game first. We move forward through each game, one at a time.”
The Tommies ended last season with a 27-3 record and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament.
The Tommies are 5-0 to start 2018, averaging 78 points a game.
Men’s Basketball
Tommie men’s basketball was No. 4 in the MIAC coaches preseason poll and have received votes for a national ranking this season.
The team has a handful of key players returning this season that will help the program bounce back from a 14-12 season last year.
“We have a really talented group of boys this year,” coach John Tauer said. “Our goal is always a MIAC title, but we would love an NCAA tournament run again this year.”
The men’s basketball team beat Wisconsin River-Falls 85-70 Nov. 30 in the first-ever basketball game at US Bank Stadium.
Swim and Dive
Both men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were ranked in the top 20 of the Division III preseason poll by the College Swim-Dive Coaches Association of America CSCAA. The women were ranked at No. 18 and men at No.16.
Swimmer Alex Howard was named MIAC athlete of the week on Oct. 30. Howard played a role in three first place events as well as one second place event to lead the Tommies to victory in the five-a-team Wisconsin-Minnesota border battle.
“It felt great to start my season off right,” Howard said. “We worked really hard as a group and all of the offseason training we put in is finally starting to pay off.”
Jacob Schneider can be reached at @schn6923@stthomas.edu