For the second year in a row, Gustavus has swept the MIAC All-Sports Trophy Competitions, winning both the George Durenberger Trophy (men’s) and the Pat Wiesner Trophy (women’s).
The traveling All-Sports Trophy is awarded to the college that accumulates the best all-sports record during the MIAC academic year. This marks the second year in a row the Gustavus men’s teams have taken the traveling all-sport award, while The Gustavus women’s teams have now consecutively won five all-sport awards.
Gustavus is the only current MIAC institution to win both men’s and women’s all-sports awards in the same year and have now done it back-to-back. Not counting St. Thomas, a former MIAC member, no other school aside from Gustavus has seen the Wiesner trophy on their campus since 2000.
The main theme for Gustavus’s men’s and women’s athletics this academic year: depth and consistency across all disciplines. No team in any sport, regardless of gender, scored less than five points towards the school’s total, showing prowess throughout the fall, winter, and spring. (Talk about a well-rounded athletic program!)
Another strong point for Gustavus: our teams compete in all sports the MIAC offers. St. Olaf is the only other school that can say that.
“To have the opportunity to win both the men’s and women’s MIAC All-Sport Trophies in back-to-back years is really special for our entire Gustavus community,” says Gustavus athletic director Tom Brown. “We know how difficult it is to sustain success across all sports, and we are very grateful for the dedication and commitment our student-athletes, coaches, and staff bring every day.”
ABOUT THE ALL SPORT AWARD
This special recognition dates back to 1963, when St. Paul Pioneer Press sports reporter Bob Schabert created a system to calculate a college’s sports performance as a whole outside of a college’s number of season or championship wins. The calculations can get a little complicated, so stay with us.
First place points are determined by the number of teams participating in that sport. Second place, third place, and so on receive points in a descending order, based on the first place point total. For instance, if 11 teams compete in a sport, the first-place team gets 11 points.
Here’s how the 2025–26 year went down for all teams, and how their point totals tallied into trophy wins.
MEN'S TEAMS
The men won the all-sports title with a total of 85.5 points throughout 11 men’s sports, including MIAC championships in swimming & diving, basketball, and tennis. Bethel claimed the all-sports runner-up title with 82.5 points.
It started with strong performances in the fall. Men’s golf finished second at the MIAC Championships, earning 8 points, while men’s soccer also earned 8 points by placing fourth in the regular season. The men’s cross country team followed closely behind, placing fifth at the MIAC Cross Country Championships to garner 7 points. A fifth-place finish for the Gustie football team rounded off the fall stretch with 6 points.
At the end of the fall sport season, the men had earned 29 points toward the all-sports title.
Winter brought championships for men’s and women’s swimming & diving and men’s basketball, which won their first MIAC Championship since 2004–05. This top title in basketball earned 11 points on the men’s side, while swimming & diving brought in 6. Men’s indoor track & field earned the second highest point total during the winter months, finishing fourth at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships for 8 points. Men’s hockey landed closely behind, tying for second in the conference with Saint Mary’s to add 7.5 points.
In spring, both tennis teams won titles, including the men’s 37th in a row and 56th overall, bringing in 10 points. Men’s spring track & field earned 7.5 points in a fourth-place tie with Concordia, and the baseball team scored 6.5 points.
WOMEN'S TEAMS
The Gustie women scored 94 points with titles in swimming & diving and tennis, besting runner-up St. Olaf.
The winning numbers game started in the fall, with volleyball scoring 10.5 points, tying for second place in the MIAC regular season, while women’s cross country followed closely behind with 10 points and third place in the MIAC. Women’s golf tied for fourth place at the MIAC Championships to swing another 6.5 points, and women’s soccer netted five points. At the end of the fall sport season, the women had earned 32 points altogether.
In winter, swimming & diving brought 9 points for the women—and a MIAC Championship. Women’s basketball saw the most points of any winter sport at 10.5, with a second-place MIAC finish. Women’s hockey tied for third in the MIAC to contribute another 7.5 points. A seventh-place finish at the MIAC indoor meet for women’s track & field scored the last 6.
At the end of the winter season, the women garnered 33 points to push their total up to a grand 65.
In the spring, the women’s tennis team locked in 11 points. Then, with two 9-point contributions by the women’s track & field team at the Outdoor Championships and a fourth-place finish for softball, the All-Sport Trophy was officially theirs.
