UPDATED: Area notebook: Boldt thrives in final season at Valpo

KC Boldt of Red Wing, a senior outfielder on the Division I Valparaiso softball team, has been named to the Horizon League All-League Second Team. It is her first career All-League honor. The Crusaders concluded their season at 34-21-1 after a 5-4 loss to Butler in the Horizon League Softball Championship Friday.

Boldt, who set a new team single-season record with 11 home runs, was named Horizon League player of the Week in early May after helping her team finish out the regular season in second place in the league. She netted two home runs in a single game in the Crusaders’ 3-0 victory over Cleveland State on May 8.

Boldt, a 2007 Red Wing graduate, holds the Valparaiso school record for most RBI in a game (seven). In league play, Boldt has 17 runs scored, seven home runs, and 25 RBI while batting .343. Overall, Boldt tied for first among Horizon players in runs scored (38). She finished second in the league in home runs and tied for second in RBI (42).

• Minnesota State Mankato senior Kathleen Ritter received the Georgene Brock Award, which is an annual award bestowed upon an outstanding female student-athlete.

Ritter, who is pursuing degrees in Accounting and Financial Planning & Insurance, possesses a 4.0 grade-point average. She was a 2011 Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award recipient and a five-time member of the dean’s list at Minnesota State Mankato.

She concluded her four-year career with the Mavericks women's golf team by tying for 27th as an individual and helping her team finish fifth at the NCAA Division II Central Regional.

Ritter finished the tournament, which was held at Hillcrest Golf Club in St. Paul from May 1-3, with a score of 264.

Minnesota State Mankato finished the 54-hole tournament with a team score of 1,023.

The event featured the top nine teams and individuals in the region.

Ritter played 23 rounds in the 2010-2011 season with an average score of 82.1. Her season low round was a 72. Ritter had three top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes and seven top-20 finishes.

• Red Wing natives Aaron Johnson and Adam Thygesen, who play baseball for Southwest Minnesota State, have earned postseason honors.

Johnson, a junior, was named the team’s Most Valuable Pitcher. Johnson led the Mustangs with 56 innings pitched. He finished the season with a 2-5 record, a 5.14 ERA and 29 strikeouts.

Johnson was a model of consistency, pitching at least five innings in eight of his 10 starts. He also threw one complete game.

Thygesen was recently named to the Capital One Academic All-District V second team. Thygesen carries a 3.84 GPA in management and is a two-time Academic All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honoree.

Thygesen, also a junior, was named the team’s best defensive player. He played in 33 games and started 31 of them at second base. He finished the season with a .949 fielding percentage, registered 71 assists and tallied 59 putouts. Thygesen also committed seven errors.

Thygesen batted .298 with three doubles and 14 RBI. The Mustangs were 11-25 overall and 7-18 in the NSIC in 2011.

• Mark Giorgi and the St. John's golf team tied for third at the Division III Championship on Friday in Greensboro, N.C. The Johnnies finished with a four-day total of 1,180 (plus-28).

Giorgi, a sophomore from Red Wing, recorded an even-par 72 Friday and finished with an 11-over-par 299. He tied for 30th place as an individual.

On March 10, Giorgi led his team with a 3-under-par 69 in the first round of the national championship after tallying five birdies with a double bogey on No. 11. His score helped St. John’s set a new school record for a national tournament round with a 2-under-par 286.

Giorgi and his four teammates were named to the Golf Coaches Association of America All-District team during the association’s awards banquet on May 10 in Greensboro.

Giorgi played 23 rounds in the 2010-2011 season, finishing with an average score of 75 or 3-over-par.

Alex Wallerich, a junior from Lake City, played in 17 rounds for the Johnnies and had an average score of 77 or 5-over-par.

• D.J. Borgen of Red Wing and the St. Mary’s men’s golf team wrapped up their spring season April 30 against Carleton College. The Cardinals emerged with an 8 1/2-6 1/2 victory. Borgen and teammate Tim Wolford tied Carleton’s Aaron Buckley and Ted Harrington with 1 1/2-1 1/2.

Earlier in the season, Borgen helped his team to a 16th-place finish out of 16 teams in the 54-hole Bobby Krig Invitational.

The junior opened the competition with an 87 at the Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, Minn., on April 17. He followed that up with an 85 and a 78 the next day at Le Sueur (Minn.) Country Club.

Borgen was St. Mary’s top individual finisher, tying for 70th with a 38-over-par 250.

Borgen played 11 rounds during the season, finishing with a team-best average score of 86 or 14-over-par.

He was named to the 2010-11 All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sportsmanship Team in men’s golf.

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