ST. PAUL, Minn. -- JoAnn Andregg will conclude an incredible career at the University of St. Thomas next week after 36 years of immeasurable impact as both an athletics administrator and coach. For her service to St. Thomas and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) , she has been honored with the highest honor the conference can bestow upon an individual - the MIAC Distinguished Service Award.

The MIAC Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to their institution and to the conference, and is presented upon retirement, resignation, or re-assignment. As the 2014 recipient, Andregg caps her career with a honor that is both extremely fitting and well-deserved.

She was nominated, selected and honored by the MIAC Athletic Director's Council and Management Committee, and her peers presented her with the award at the MIAC Athletic Directors' Council Meeting on May 6, 2014, at Saint Mary's University. Andregg is the 20th recipient of the award since its inception in 2001.

"It is an honor to receive the MIAC Distinguished Service Award," Andregg said. "I feel so fortunate and proud to have been a member of this conference since its initial sponsorship of women’s athletics in the mid-80s.  The MIAC’s legacy of commitment can be seen through its growth from a small organization to a premier conference known nationally for its quality athletics, quality academics and quality leaders in athletic administration."

"JoAnn Andregg is extremely deserving of the MIAC Distinguished Service Award, and we're proud to present it to her in recognition of all the great things she has done for St. Thomas and the MIAC," said MIAC Executive Director Dan McKane. "She has a knowledge of the conference like none other. She was integral  in setting up our current operations of the conference. She was passionate about collegiate athletics and providing opportunities for student-athletes. The entire conference is going to miss JoAnn."

Andregg began her career at St. Thomas as the institutions' first volleyball and women's tennis coach when the school first began admitting women students in 1977, and she has been a driving force in women's athletics since their inception at UST and in the MIAC. She also served as the Tommies' equipment manager before moving to a strictly administrative role as the department's assistant athletic director. During her time in her current role, the school's teams have experienced an incredible degree of success, with numerous MIAC and NCAA Division III championships.

Though Andregg's role was specifically defined, she made a career of doing anything and everything that St. Thomas athletics needed, and was heavily involved at the conference and national levels as well.

"Awarding the MIAC distinguished service award to JoAnn Andregg is a fitting way to honor a person who has served the University of St. Thomas and the MIAC in such a dignified manner over the last 30 years," said St. Thomas Athletic Director Steve Fritz. "No task was too small and no task too large as JoAnn served on many committees, hosted many conference and NCAA events and was a great example and mentor to the many people she worked alongside throughout her career."

JoAnn Andregg

At the conference level, Andregg has served as a senior woman administrator and as a member of the MIAC Management, Compliance and Budget Committees, and she served on the MIAC Executive Director Search Committee. Andregg also has served on many NCAA committees, including the Committee for Student-Athlete Reinstatement and Amateurism. Despite all her roles and responsibilities, Andregg also shared her valuable knowledge and experience with others, and mentored countless student-athletes, coaches and administrators.

"JoAnn Andregg has been someone I have looked up to as a mentor since I began with the conference office eight years ago," said Augsburg Associate Athletic Director and former MIAC Assistant Director Kelly Anderson Diercks. "She has been an invaluable resource in every capacity. JoAnn is frequently the first phone call I make when seeking out advice from an administrative colleague and she has always been willing to take a minute out of her day to assist and mentor me as I grow as an administrator."

 "Throughout the years JoAnn has helped mentor me and many others," McKane added. "I will personally miss being able to pick up the phone and ask her a question. I will also miss seeing her at our next administrator meeting, as I often looked to her for thoughts on all subjects."

The MIAC Distinguished Service Award isn't the first honor of Andregg's stellar career. She received St. Thomas' sister Pat Kowalski Women's Leadership Award in 2006, as well as a Special Merit Award in 2008, which honors individuals who, "exemplify the highest levels of commitment to breaking barriers for girls and women in sport."

Though the conference's highest honor is certainly a fitting way to say goodbye to Andregg as she moves into her richly-deserved retirement, she will be deeply missed and her legacy will continue to live on, both at St. Thomas and throughout the MIAC.

"JoAnn will be truly missed not only by the University of St. Thomas, but by the conference as a whole," Anderson Diercks said. "People will be asking themselves for many years to come, I wonder what JoAnn would do in this situation?"

"We will all dearly miss JoAnn’s leadership and involvement, but are also thrilled for her as she moves to the well-earned retirement phase of her career," added Fritz.

And though Andregg will no longer be fulfilling her day-to-day duties at St. Thomas or continue her leadership and service in the MIAC, The Distinguished Service Award winner will always remain a fan and treasured friend.

"I leave the conference in good hands," Andregg said, "and look forward to the future of athletics knowing I’ll be watching from a vantage point a little further away."

| MIAC Distinguished Service Award |