BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year and the Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) Student-Athletes of the Year awards on Thursday.
Bethel's Hailey Gregg and Macalester's Peyton Starks have been selected as the MIAC nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Gregg, Starks, and Concordia's Collin Thompson have also been nominated for the Division III Commissioners Association Student-Athlete of the Year honors, presented by Chi Alpha Sigma.
Gregg (Colorado Springs, Colo. | Air Academy) finished her track & field career at Bethel as a five-time All-MIAC honoree, three-time All-American, and two-time conference champion. Gregg helped the Royals set a MIAC championship record of 3:49.64 in the 4x400-meter relay at the final conference meet of her career in May, despite battling neurocardiogenic syncope, a heart condition which can cause debilitating symptoms including loss of consciousness after extreme physical exertion.
"My condition is triggered after every race," Gregg said. "I initially signed up for study abroad to take some pressure off my passion for track, but instead, I gained a deeper perspective on the world and my place in it… Track gave me meaningful ways to connect with people."
While studying abroad in Ecuador early in her collegiate career, Gregg aquajogged in the Amazon Rainforest and ran with locals through the Cloud Forest. That led to another study-abroad trip to India, where she learned Hindi as a recipient of a Critical Language Scholarship. As Gregg navigated the management of her syncope, she also gained invaluable experience for her future career as a multilingual educator. Upon returning to Bethel, Gregg began serving as a middle school student-teacher supporting students with special needs, as well as multilingual learners. She graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade point average with degrees in elementary education and teaching English as a second language. She earned a pair of MIAC Elite 22 Awards and the NCAA's Elite 90 honor for indoor track & field along the way.
Starks (St. Louis, Mo. | John Burroughs School) wrapped up her collegiate career at Macalester as the MIAC's Offensive Player of the Year after making history as the only women's basketball player in the last quarter-century to lead the conference in scoring for three consecutive seasons. Starks posted 20-plus points in eleven contests as a senior and etched her name into the Scots' record book as the program's all-time leader in field goals (646) and free-throw percentage (.832), while her 1,652 career points rank second in program history.
However, Starks notes that none of those achievements would have been possible without a strong academic foundation. After struggling to find her rhythm and spending time on the sidelines early in her debut season, Starks resolved to treat the court like she did the classroom.
"I was determined to never ride the bench again," Starks remembered. "My Macalester education gifted me the love of being a student. I began studying the game like I had for my exams. I re-watched film, reworked the same moves, and always sought feedback. My sophomore season, all the hard work paid off."
For the rest of her collegiate career, Starks' success on the court and in the classroom ran in parallel, as she matched her athletic honors with three consecutive seasons of being named both Academic All-Conference and Academic All-District. Starks also used her post as vice president of Macalester's student-athlete advisory committee to spearhead community engagement initiatives, including organizing a toy drive for children at a local hospital. The neuroscience major graduated magna cum laude in May and intends to pursue a career in public health and science policy.
"Staying a student will stick with me in the next chapter of my life," Starks said. "Where the ball stops bouncing and I discover new ways to positively impact the world, one day at a time."
The NCAA Woman of the Year was established in 1991 to honor graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the award.
Gregg and Starks were among nine extremely deserving student-athletes nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award by MIAC institutions this year. Other institutional nominees included Augsburg's Emily Cronkhite (ice hockey), Concordia's Makayla Anderson (basketball), Hamline's Jenna Rubbelke (volleyball/softball), Saint Benedict's Sophia Jonas (basketball/tennis), St. Catherine's Kelsey Dorr (tennis), St. Olaf's Alison Bode (cross country/track & field), and St. Scholastica's Katia Bartels (tennis). All nine individuals were also considered for the MIAC nomination for DIIICA Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year, presented by Chi Alpha Sigma.
Following the announcements of Conference nominees, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and nine finalists will be announced in November. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will announce the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. in January 2026.
Concordia's Collin Thompson joins Gregg and Starks as a nominee for the DIIICA Student-Athlete of the Year awards, presented by Chi Alpha Sigma.
Thompson (Thatcher, Ariz.) finished his Cobber career as a three-time All-MIAC defender, a D3football.com All-American, and the 2023 MIAC Mike Stam Award winner as the most outstanding lineman in the conference. No Concordia player in program history has more tackles for loss in a career than Thompson's 39 in a Cobber uniform. A two-time Academic All-American as well, Thompson was the recipient of the NCAA's postgraduate scholarship in March and is now pursuing a Master's degree in management science and quantitative methods at Concordia.
"While my Academic All-American plaques hang in my office, my hand-drawn 'Dad of the Year' card is proudly displayed on the front of my fridge as the biggest reminder of all that I have accomplished," Thompson said. "The joy of winning a game is nothing next to the hug I got from [my two-year-old son] afterwards, reminding me of why I do what I do. When I had to balance school, football, working, and being a parent altogether, he was the foundation that inspired me to push through."
Thompson believes that parenthood has led him to be a leader by example. In addition to helping with the Cobbers' InSports Foundation elementary school sports clinics and volunteering with numerous charitable organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Down Home Furniture, the YWCA, and the United Way, Thompson also took a lead on an in-house project called the "Cobbers' Playbook for Change." Thompson worked with campus leadership to develop a curriculum for athletes to address social issues at the institution.
"This program was created to teach athletes on campus about being advocates for all types of people on campus," Thompson said. "I love being able to be involved and help others."
Thompson was among six finalists for the MIAC's nomination for DIIICA Men's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year, presented by Chi Alpha Sigma. Other finalists included Bethel's Jacob Parent (track & field), Carleton's Luke Harris (basketball), Macalester's Hans Haenicke (soccer), Saint John's Max Lelwica (track & field), and St. Olaf's Shea Bechtel (soccer).
This is the fourth year of the DIIICA awards, which recognize graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. Voting is conducted by the commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top men's sport and women's sport honorees recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year. The awards are sponsored by Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society. Regional and national honorees for both the DIIICA awards will be announced in August.
| All-Time MIAC NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees | All-Time MIAC DIIICA Student-Athlete of the Year Nominees |
About the MIAC
Founded in 1920, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is home to 13 private institutions, all of which are located within the borders of the state of Minnesota. The MIAC sponsors championships in 22 sports and is committed to upholding its four core values of Quality Athletics, Academics, Student-Athlete Well-Being, and Community.