BEMIDJI, Minn. 鈥� As the end of the 2024-25 athletic year nears, Bemidji State athletics honored its 385 student-athletes at the 2025 Beaver Nation Celebration on Tuesday night. A night filled with celebrating the triumphs and successes of its student-athletes was capped off as four Beavers were selected from a pool of nominations as Bemidji State's Student-Athletes of the Year.
Bemidji State women's hockey forward Morgan Smith and men鈥檚 hockey defenseman Isa Parekh were voted as the Beavers鈥� 2024-25 Female and Male Newcomers of the Year. Women's soccer forward Katrina Barthelt and football center Jake Gannon were voted as BSU鈥檚 Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year.
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The Beavers also celebrated their student-athletes鈥� accomplishments in the classroom, recognizing 16 NSIC Myles Brand Award recipients, 21 Scholar-Athletes of the Year and the women's and men鈥檚 hockey programs as Outstanding Academic Team Award winners.
This year, the Beavers saw a 20% increase in Scholar-Athlete award winners who achieved a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, jumping from 17 to 21 from last year. Katrina Barthelt (women's soccer), Beth Bolte (women's basketball), Ana Davis (women's hockey), Maddie Davey (women's soccer), Ridge Flatness (football), Julia Freed (women's soccer), Nick Gerlach (football), Bill Ketola (football), Grace Kittel (women's soccer), Rachel Koenig (women's basketball), Jackie Larsen (softball), Tieryn Plasch (women's basketball), Noah Quinn (men's hockey), Patrik Satosaari (men's hockey), Logan Schoepp (men's golf), Lauren Sitter (volleyball), Kylie Struble (volleyball), Ella Wade (women's soccer), Emily Wade (volleyball), Lili Wade (women's soccer) and Sydney White (women's basketball) were all named Bemidji State Scholar-Athletes.
The Bemidji State women's hockey team was recognized as this year鈥檚 Outstanding Female Academic Team, compiling a team GPA of 3.88, the highest by a team since the award was established in 2022. The Beaver men鈥檚 hockey team won the Outstanding Male Academic Team award, combining for a 3.71 team GPA.
The Beavers also took the time to recognize all 73 soon-to-be graduates of Bemidji State, presenting each senior with a commemorative plaque and letter.
Female Newcommer of the Year: Morgan Smith
In her first season with the Beavers, Morgan led the team, scoring 11 goals and nine assists to become the first 20-point scorer at BSU since 2021-22. She ranks seventh in program history for most goals by a Beaver freshman and tied for ninth for most points.
Smith also scored the most goals by a Beaver freshman since 2000-01 and became the first Beaver to net two hat tricks in a season since 2010-11. She was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week three times during the season and was named the league鈥檚 Rookie of the Month in December.
Male Newcommer of the Year: Isa Parekh
An All-CCHA Rookie Team selection, Isa led all freshmen at BSU, skating in 35 of the Beavers鈥� 38 games this season. He led the Bemidji State blueline with 18 points, scoring three goals and 15 assists to finish second on the team. He finished the season tied for first in the CCHA for points by a freshman defenseman and tied for sixth in the NCAA. He was tied for fifth among all CCHA rookies in points.
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Female Student-Athlete of the Year: Katrina Barthelt
As NSIC Offensive Player of the Year, Barthelt was the NSIC scoring champion, leading the league with 11 goals and producing a league-high 25 points. She was selected to the D2CCA All-Region First Team and also earned All-NSIC First Team honors for the first time in her career.
Barthelt was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Year, becoming just the third Beaver to earn the award. Also excelling in the classroom, Katrina is a NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award winner and CSC Academic All-District selection.
Male Student-Athlete of the Year: Jake Gannon
Gannon, the 2024 DII Rimington Trophy winner and an AP First Team All-American, anchored the Beavers鈥� offensive line to national rankings and BSU鈥檚 fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA DII football Tournament. As a unit, the Beaver offense ranked in the top 30 nationally in first downs, tackles for loss allowed, rushing offense, sacks allowed and time of possession.
Gannon started in all 14 games for the Beavers this season as the top center and earned a D2football Elite 100 First Team Offense, All-NSIC First Team Offense and Academic Team of Excellence, D2CCA All-Super Region 4 First Team, D2CCA All-American Second Team and AP All-American First Team, along with being a finalist for the 2024 Gene Upshaw Award.
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