Lindenwood - Your Alumni Connection - Fall 2017

CAMPUS NEWS FACULTY SPOTLIGHT UPCOMING EVENTS LINDENWOOD SPORTS ALUMNI EVENTS AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES SCHOLAR ATHLETES MAKE THEIR MARK AFTER GRADUATION Lindenwood fans know all about the unprecedented success the Lions had at the NCAA level during the 2016-17 school year, including a sixth-place finish in NCAA Division II in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings. Lindenwood student-athletes were also breaking records in the classroom. In the fall of 2016, NCAA athletes had a combined GPA of 3.34, the highest in Lindenwood history, and followed in the spring with the second-highest mark of 3.31. Lindenwood also had a record six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2016-17. Since 2011-12, Lindenwood athletes have earned 20 Academic All-American awards, and six athletes were first-team honorees: Ryan Griffin, Baseball Ryan Griffin (’12, ’13) was a member of the Lindenwood baseball team in 2011 and 2012, and he earned first-team Academic All-American honors in 2012. The Australian native was Lindenwood’s closer and finished the season with a 6-1 record, 11 saves, and a minuscule 1.65 ERA. Griffin graduated from Lindenwood with a marketing degree in 2012 and an MBA in 2013. “In my senior season, along with practice and games, I was taking 24 credit hours, early-entry MBA classes, and an internship,” said Griffin. “It was a juggle, initially, but the coaching staff made it work.” Griffin returned to Australia after graduating from Lindenwood and has worked since then in advertising. He is currently on an extended cycling trip across South America, enjoying the surroundings and culture. Nicole Hensley, Ice Hockey Nicole Hensley (’16) was the starting goalie for the women’s hockey team from 2012 to 2016. She is Lindenwood’s first three-time Academic All-American, including first- team honors in 2016. During her career, she became the first NCAA Division I goalie to collect over 4,000 career saves and was named one of the 10 best student-athletes at any level of the NCAA in her senior year. She earned her degree in exercise science. “The exercise science field is perfect for combining getting people active and helping others,” said Hensley. “I liked Lindenwood’s smaller class sizes and the excellent professors in the exercise science department.” Hensley moved to Tampa, Fla., this fall to begin a residency period with the United States women’s hockey national team, which will be competing in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Morgan Judd, Lacrosse The newest member of Lindenwood’s Academic All-American club is women’s lacrosse player Morgan Judd (’17), who earned first-team honors this spring. An exercise science major, she was a three-year member of the women’s lacrosse team and won two NCAA Elite 90 awards for having the highest GPA at the women’s lacrosse national championships. “Jack Cribbin and Brian Smith always had my back and pushed me to be better when needed,” said Judd. “They were always telling me how proud they were of me, and that alone made it all worth it.” Judd returned to her home state of Utah after graduation, where she is a regional sales manager and clinic consultant for JTECH Medical, a company that manufactures and sells medical devices and software. Melissa Menchella, Lacrosse Melissa Menchella (’15) is arguably the top Lindenwood women’s lacrosse player on both the field and in the classroom. She played for the Lady Lions from 2012 to 2015 and is the program’s all-time leader with 183 goals and 233 points. She earned first-team Academic All-American honors in 2015, and she was also the first Lindenwood student-athlete to earn the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 Award. She credits Cribbin and Smith for a large measure of her success. Menchella graduated with a physical education degree and coaches field hockey and lacrosse at Eureka High School, where she teaches physical education and health. She recently returned from a trip to Ukraine over the summer, where she worked with a group of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) coaches to teach the game of lacrosse to youths. Greg MacAulay, Golf Greg MacAulay (’14, ’15) was the first two-time Academic All-American at Lindenwood. MacAulay graduated with a finance degree and earned an NCAA postgraduate scholarship to help him get his master of accountancy in 2015. As a senior, he earned all-region honors and helped the Lions make the NCAA regionals in their first season of eligibility. “Roger (Ellis) helped not only with an attack plan on the golf course, but also an attack plan for how to navigate the academic semester,” said MacAulay. “Derek (Schaub) always pushed us to do our best both academically and competitively.” MacAulay now lives in Sweden with his wife, Marcella, a former member of the Lindenwood women’s golf team, and son Emmett. He works as a customer advisor at one of Sweden’s largest banks. Kramer Soderberg, Basketball Kramer Soderberg (’12, ’14) was the first Lindenwood student-athlete to earn first-team Academic All-American honors, which he did in 2012. In 2010-2012, Soderberg led two of the top Lindenwood teams in program history, scoring 1,148 points. He is still among the school’s top-10 career scoring leaders. His situation was somewhat unique in that his head coach at Lindenwood was his father, Brad Soderberg. “Lindenwood’s academic opportunities and support were very inviting, inventive, and modern,” said Soderberg. “So often I would be challenged outside of a classroom setting, which prepared me for the real world.” Soderberg is now the assistant basketball coach at Millikin University. He and his wife, Andrea, have two boys, Krayton and Finley. Soderberg will be back on campus this fall when he gets inducted into the Lindenwood Sports Hall of Fame. Lindenwood University SPORTS 17 RYAN GRIFFIN (’12, ’13) NICOLE HENSLEY (’16) MORGAN JUDD (’17) MELISSA MENCHELLA (’15) GREG MACAULAY (’14, ’15) KRAMER SODERBERG (’12, ’14) LINDENWOOD Fall 2017