University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Four Gophers Earn Academic All-America Nods
6/25/2020 11:05:00 AM | Athletics, Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
Alec Basten, Michael Burke, Bethany Hasz, and Jonathan Tharaldsen have been honored as CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
MINNEAPOLIS – Four University of Minnesota student-athletes from the Golden Gophers track & field and cross country program have been recognized for their athletic and academic dedication as CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees, the organization announced on Thursday morning.
Michael Burke and Jonathan Tharaldsen were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team while Alec Basten and Bethany Hasz represented the Maroon & Gold on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. All four have earned their first Academic All-America nod of their careers after Basten, Hasz, and Tharaldsen repeated as CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees. Basten led the group as a three-time all-district selection.
A total of eight University of Minnesota student-athletes earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the 2019-20 year after 23 Gophers earned CoSIDA Academic All-District awards, tying for the second highest number of honorees in school history. Burke, Tharaldsen, Basten, and Hasz joined football's Sam Renner (Second Team) and Blaise Andries (Second Team), softball's Amber Fiser (First Team), and swimming & diving's Lindsey Kozelsky (Second Team) as 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
A native of Lemoore, Calif., Burke joined the Maroon & Gold this year as a grad transfer from UCLA and proceeded to earn All-America and Second Team All-Big Ten honors in the high jump. He closed out the season with a runner-up showing at the Big Ten championships while his mark of 2.23 meters (7-03.75 ft.) ranks third all-time in program history and 12th among all NCAA high jumpers this season. He finished in the top-10 in all seven of his competitions this season including three wins. Burke previously earned All-America honors as an undergrad at UCLA. While at Minnesota, Burke worked towards his master's degree in sport management.
A native of Bismarck, N.D., Tharaldsen earned his second-straight CoSIDA Academic All-District selection earlier this year to go along with his first career Academic All-America nod. The thrower closed out his Gophers career with his second collegiate All-America honor in 2020 while competing in the shot put. The redshirt senior finished fifth or better in all seven of his shot put competitions including three wins. His best attempt of the year came in a win at the McCravy Memorial where Tharaldsen cleared 20.50 meters (67-03.25 ft.) – a mark that ranks second all-time at Minnesota and fourth among all NCAA throwers this season. A two-year captain for Minnesota, Tharaldsen previously earned All-America honors in the indoor shot put and Second Team All-Big Ten honors in the outdoor shot put in 2019. Along with CoSIDA academic awards, Tharaldsen is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in kinesiology.
Already a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, Basten earned NCAA All-Region cross country honors for the second year in a row in 2019 and represented Minnesota at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships. A native of Green Bay, Wis., Basten led Minnesota in all five of his cross country races this season and has paced the Gophers in all 10 of his races over the last two seasons. The redshirt junior broke the school eight-kilometer record this year at Lehigh's Paul Short Run with a time of 23:26.7 – besting the previous mark of Gophers legend Hassan Mead set in 2011. During the indoor season, he scored for the Maroon & Gold in two events at the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters and a sixth-place finish in the 3,000 meters. Basten previously earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades in cross country in 2018 and with Second Team All-America merits in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 2019. Along with his academic honors from CoSIDA, Basten is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in kinesiology.
B. Hasz earned her first CoSIDA Academic All-America award of her career after back-to-back CoSIDA Academic All-District awards. The Alexandria, Minn., native qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5,000 meters after running a career-best and Minnesota program record time of 15:25.33 at the BU Season Opener. She led the Gophers to a B1G runner-up team finish, scoring 16 points by finishing second in the 3,000 meters, third in the mile, and seventh in the 5,000 meters at the Big Ten meet. She was named the Midwest Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters along with picking up All-Big Ten Second Team honors in the 3,000 meters. B. Hasz ended the season ranked first in the 5,000m (15:25.33), first in the 3,000m (9:11.46), and second in the mile (4:38.86) among all-time Gophers. A three-time All-Midwest Region selection and two-time All-Big Ten honoree in cross country, B. Hasz redshirted the 2019 cross country season last fall. She completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and is now working on her M.Ed. in Sport/Exercise Science. Along with her Academic All-District awards, B. Hasz is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Burke, B. Hasz and Tharaldsen all qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, earning All-America honors in the process. However, the indoor national championships and the entire outdoor season were canceled on March 12, 2020 when the Big Ten and the NCAA announced they were ceasing competitions and championships because of COVID-10 public health concerns.
2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-America Selections (8)
Sam Renner (Football) – Second Team
Blaise Andries (Football) – Second Team
Amber Fiser (Softball) – First Team
Lindsey Kozelsky (Women's Swimming & Diving) – Second Team
Michael Burke (Men's Track & Field) – Second Team
Jonathan Tharaldsen (Men's Track & Field) – Second Team
Alec Basten (Men's Cross Country and Track & Field) – Third Team
Bethany Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field) – Third Team
2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-District Selections (23)
Nikki Albrecht (Women's Soccer)
Marisa Windingstad (Women's Soccer)
Athena Kuehn (Women's Soccer)
Maddie Nielsen (Women's Soccer)
Sam Renner (Football)
Blaise Andries (Football)
Antoine Winfield Jr. (Football)
Amber Fiser (Softball)
Natalie DenHartog (Softball)
Lindsey Kozelsky (Women's Swimming & Diving)
Lindsay Eliasen (Rowing)
Ivy Lu (Women's Gymnastics)
Emily Brown (Women's Hockey)
Duncan Lester (Men's Swimming & Diving)
Jeremy Moser (Men's Swimming & Diving)
Stefan Milicevic (Men's Tennis)
Colton Dee (Men's Gymnastics)
Alec Basten (Men's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Michael Burke (Men's Track & Field)
Bethany Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Megan Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Abby Kohut-Jackson (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Jonathan Tharaldsen (Men's Track & Field)
###
Michael Burke and Jonathan Tharaldsen were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team while Alec Basten and Bethany Hasz represented the Maroon & Gold on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. All four have earned their first Academic All-America nod of their careers after Basten, Hasz, and Tharaldsen repeated as CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees. Basten led the group as a three-time all-district selection.
A total of eight University of Minnesota student-athletes earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the 2019-20 year after 23 Gophers earned CoSIDA Academic All-District awards, tying for the second highest number of honorees in school history. Burke, Tharaldsen, Basten, and Hasz joined football's Sam Renner (Second Team) and Blaise Andries (Second Team), softball's Amber Fiser (First Team), and swimming & diving's Lindsey Kozelsky (Second Team) as 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
A native of Lemoore, Calif., Burke joined the Maroon & Gold this year as a grad transfer from UCLA and proceeded to earn All-America and Second Team All-Big Ten honors in the high jump. He closed out the season with a runner-up showing at the Big Ten championships while his mark of 2.23 meters (7-03.75 ft.) ranks third all-time in program history and 12th among all NCAA high jumpers this season. He finished in the top-10 in all seven of his competitions this season including three wins. Burke previously earned All-America honors as an undergrad at UCLA. While at Minnesota, Burke worked towards his master's degree in sport management.
A native of Bismarck, N.D., Tharaldsen earned his second-straight CoSIDA Academic All-District selection earlier this year to go along with his first career Academic All-America nod. The thrower closed out his Gophers career with his second collegiate All-America honor in 2020 while competing in the shot put. The redshirt senior finished fifth or better in all seven of his shot put competitions including three wins. His best attempt of the year came in a win at the McCravy Memorial where Tharaldsen cleared 20.50 meters (67-03.25 ft.) – a mark that ranks second all-time at Minnesota and fourth among all NCAA throwers this season. A two-year captain for Minnesota, Tharaldsen previously earned All-America honors in the indoor shot put and Second Team All-Big Ten honors in the outdoor shot put in 2019. Along with CoSIDA academic awards, Tharaldsen is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in kinesiology.
Already a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, Basten earned NCAA All-Region cross country honors for the second year in a row in 2019 and represented Minnesota at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships. A native of Green Bay, Wis., Basten led Minnesota in all five of his cross country races this season and has paced the Gophers in all 10 of his races over the last two seasons. The redshirt junior broke the school eight-kilometer record this year at Lehigh's Paul Short Run with a time of 23:26.7 – besting the previous mark of Gophers legend Hassan Mead set in 2011. During the indoor season, he scored for the Maroon & Gold in two events at the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters and a sixth-place finish in the 3,000 meters. Basten previously earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades in cross country in 2018 and with Second Team All-America merits in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 2019. Along with his academic honors from CoSIDA, Basten is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in kinesiology.
B. Hasz earned her first CoSIDA Academic All-America award of her career after back-to-back CoSIDA Academic All-District awards. The Alexandria, Minn., native qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5,000 meters after running a career-best and Minnesota program record time of 15:25.33 at the BU Season Opener. She led the Gophers to a B1G runner-up team finish, scoring 16 points by finishing second in the 3,000 meters, third in the mile, and seventh in the 5,000 meters at the Big Ten meet. She was named the Midwest Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters along with picking up All-Big Ten Second Team honors in the 3,000 meters. B. Hasz ended the season ranked first in the 5,000m (15:25.33), first in the 3,000m (9:11.46), and second in the mile (4:38.86) among all-time Gophers. A three-time All-Midwest Region selection and two-time All-Big Ten honoree in cross country, B. Hasz redshirted the 2019 cross country season last fall. She completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and is now working on her M.Ed. in Sport/Exercise Science. Along with her Academic All-District awards, B. Hasz is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Burke, B. Hasz and Tharaldsen all qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, earning All-America honors in the process. However, the indoor national championships and the entire outdoor season were canceled on March 12, 2020 when the Big Ten and the NCAA announced they were ceasing competitions and championships because of COVID-10 public health concerns.
2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-America Selections (8)
Sam Renner (Football) – Second Team
Blaise Andries (Football) – Second Team
Amber Fiser (Softball) – First Team
Lindsey Kozelsky (Women's Swimming & Diving) – Second Team
Michael Burke (Men's Track & Field) – Second Team
Jonathan Tharaldsen (Men's Track & Field) – Second Team
Alec Basten (Men's Cross Country and Track & Field) – Third Team
Bethany Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field) – Third Team
2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-District Selections (23)
Nikki Albrecht (Women's Soccer)
Marisa Windingstad (Women's Soccer)
Athena Kuehn (Women's Soccer)
Maddie Nielsen (Women's Soccer)
Sam Renner (Football)
Blaise Andries (Football)
Antoine Winfield Jr. (Football)
Amber Fiser (Softball)
Natalie DenHartog (Softball)
Lindsey Kozelsky (Women's Swimming & Diving)
Lindsay Eliasen (Rowing)
Ivy Lu (Women's Gymnastics)
Emily Brown (Women's Hockey)
Duncan Lester (Men's Swimming & Diving)
Jeremy Moser (Men's Swimming & Diving)
Stefan Milicevic (Men's Tennis)
Colton Dee (Men's Gymnastics)
Alec Basten (Men's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Michael Burke (Men's Track & Field)
Bethany Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Megan Hasz (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Abby Kohut-Jackson (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field)
Jonathan Tharaldsen (Men's Track & Field)
###
Follow Track & Field
Support Track & Field
Support the University of Minnesota Track & Field program. Your support helps our student-athletes succeed athletically, academically, and socially. It takes just seconds to make a monthly or one-time donation. Thank you for your support! Give Now
Cub Plays of the Week
Wednesday, September 24
Cub Plays of the Week
Thursday, September 18
Cub Plays of the Year
Monday, July 14
2024-25 Gopher Sports Year in Review
Wednesday, July 09