GCAA Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University's Sam Olson '18 (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) was named Golf Coaches' Association of America (GCAA) Division III PING All-America honorable mention on Wednesday, June 20.

SJU has now produced 31 All-Americans since 2000, including 18 honorees in the last 11 years.

Olson earned GCAA All-Region honors after leading SJU with a 74.3 stroke average in 23 rounds, including six rounds at par or better, in 2017-18. A semifinalist for the 2018 Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award, Olson ended his career with a 75.1 average in 80 rounds, the seventh-best career average in SJU history.

Olson is a standout off the course as well. He is a two-time GCAA All-America Scholar, three-time Academic All-MIAC (minimum 3.5 GPA) honoree and graduated in May with a 3.63 GPA in economics. He has also served as the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President for the 2017-18 academic year. 

He headed up a volunteer effort that packed 100,000 meals for Kids Fighting Hunger in March. SAAC organized 230 volunteers – including 200 SJU student-athletes - to pack the meals, which were shipped around the world to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, orphanages and refugee camps in Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Democratic of Congo and Antigua, and locally to Catholic Charities in St. Cloud, Minnesota. 

Olson was named the 2018 recipient of the Fr. Wilfred Theisen Student-Athlete of the Year Award, sponsored by the J-Club, at the SJU Senior Banquet held April 29.

Theisen taught physics at SJU for 47 years and was named professor emeritus at his retirement in 2005. He is a former SJU faculty representative to the MIAC and continues as treasurer of the J-Club. The award was first presented in 2013.

Senior linebacker David Franta (Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area) was the runner-up.

Past Fr. Wilfred Theisen Student-Athlete of the Year Award Recipients
2013 – Dennis Granath '13 (Golf)
2014 – Michael Coborn '14 (Soccer)
2015 – J.T. Ford '15 (Football)
2016 – Alex Niederloh '16 (Soccer)/Sam Sura '16 (Football)
2017 – Mack Farley '17 (Golf)/Carter Hanson '17 (Football)
2018 – Sam Olson '18 (Golf)