The 2018-19 school year once again provided numerous unforgettable moments for the Bethel University athletic department. From NCAA playoff runs, rewriting the record books and success in the classroom, 2018-19 had it all! With report day vastly approaching for the 2019-20 fall teams, BethelRoyals.com puts a ribbon on last year with the annual Top 10 stories.

#6 | Annika Halverson Named Top 30 Honoree for NCAA Women of the Year Award
Annika Halverson is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Bethel's history. She is also the first Royal to be honored as one of the NCAA's Woman of the Year Top 30 award winners which took place in Indianapolis last October. It was the first time in the 28-year history of the award that the MIAC had forwarded on a student-athlete from Bethel. In total there were 581 nominated for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

The Wayzata, Minn. native ended her tenure as a Royal with a pair of All-America honors to go along with five combined trips to the NCAA Championships as a multi-sport athlete in cross country and track and field. She was also a nine-time All-Conference honoree and earned All-Region accolades four times in her career. Halverson got the job done in the classroom as well, punctuating her time at Bethel by receiving the 2017 MIAC Cross Country Elite 22 Award and garnering 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America honors after amassing a 3.95 grade-point average as a Sociocultural Studies and Reconciliation Studies double-major. She earned six Academic All-MIAC selections and was named All-Academic by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) five times.
 
In addition to her sport-related achievements, Halverson had also been recognized for excellence well beyond the typical scope of a student-athlete. A Dean's List honoree from 2014-18, she was a recipient of Bethel's Servant Leadership Award as a senior, an honor bestowed annually to five undergraduate students who demonstrate exemplary servant leadership qualities. She also received Bethel's Reconciliation Award this past year, which recognizes one undergraduate student who lives out the key principles of reconciliation in his or her daily life. In the community, Halverson has volunteered her time at Reading Partners, serving as a tutor for elementary-aged children in underfunded public schools to help develop their literacy skills, as well as at God's Closet, a free store for the homeless, recent immigrants and lower income families.

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Top 10 Stories from 2018-18
#10 | Men's Basketball Boasts Program-Best Winning Streak Versus Four-Year Schools
#9 | Softball Puts up Record Breaking Numbers
#8 | Women's Basketball Has Offensive Record Setting Season
#7 | Karl Olsen Receives Prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship