St. Cloud State recognized for community service efforts
5/7/2020 2:37:00 PM | Baseball, Women's Cross Country, Football, General, Men's Golf, Men's Basketball, Men's Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Softball, Men's Swim & Dive, Men's Tennis, Men's Track & Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Hockey, Women's Soccer, Wrestling, Volleyball, Men's Cross Country, Women's Swim & Dive, Women's Track & Field, Women's Tennis, Women's Golf, Men's Soccer
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – For the third consecutive year, the St. Cloud State University athletics department was recognized as one of the top in the nation in terms of community service. The Huskies once again recorded a high finish in the NCAA Division II Teamworks HelperHelper competition, as they ranked No. 28 in the nation for their community service and outreach efforts during the 2019-20 year.
In addition to a top-30 national ranking, St. Cloud State additionally saw five teams rank in the top-10 in the nation in individual sports rankings, including the Huskies softball, men's hockey, wrestling and both the men's and women's swim and dive teams. St. Cloud State's softball, wrestling and men's swim and dive teams all ranked No. 1 in the nation in this year's HelperHelper rankings, while the softball team was the No. 2 ranked women's team in the nation.
Additionally, two other teams ranking the top-10 in their individual sports rankings. The women's swim and dive team ranked No. 3 in Division II, while the men's hockey team ranked No. 8 in hours logged amongst Division II departments with Division I hockey teams.
"Huskies wrestling is proud to hear that they have received a number #1 ranking in the NCAA HelperHelper team competition," said head coach Steve Costanzo. "Our program takes pride in the overall development of our student-wrestlers, not just on the mat, but off. One of the top pillars in our program is community involvement. I appreciate all of the efforts this past year by our student-wrestlers."
NCAA TeamWorks, in partnership with HelperHelper, launched the community service competition in 2014-15 to recognize student-athletes for their community service efforts throughout an academic year. The competition runs from September to May, and the winning schools/teams are determined by the number of service hours completed plus the participation from student-athletes. The competition was cut short in 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Recognized as the #1 softball team in NCAA DII Helper-Helper and the #2 overall NCAA women's program is a statement to the type of excellent student-athletes we have in our Huskies Softball program," commented head coach Paula U'Ren. "Community service comes naturally to our SCSU student-athletes. As a whole, all our athletic teams do an outstanding job of giving back to our communities and it is a part of our culture. It provides leadership opportunities, role-model experiences, and impacts the next generation of youth in sports."
At the Division II level, teams logged 36,1174 hours during the shortened school year while participating in roughly 1000 service opportunities. St. Cloud State, as a department, notched a top-30 finish thanks to its work with local youth sports programs and senior living facilities as well as volunteer hours with major organizations such as the St. Cloud Miracle League, Special Olympics Polar Plunge, Make-A-Wish and Toys for Tots.
