News & Stories

LNR Trio Receive 2016 Athena Awards

From Left: Hannah Rudd, Piotr Bednarski, Amanda Kautzer, Claire Benton

Claire Benton (Hopkins HS), Amanda Kautzer (Benilde-St Margaret’s), and Hannah Rudd (Armstrong HS) were all identified by their high schools as the top female athlete for 2015-2016 school year. The Athena Award is in its 44th year, and recognizes the outstanding senior female athlete from 52 Minneapolis area high schools. It was the first time three Nordic skiers won the award in the same year.

The ceremony was held at the ballroom at the Bloomington Doubletree Hotel, and was attended by school superintendents, principals, athletic directors and school board members. The athletic achievements of the athletes were impressive, but what really stood out was the academic and service achievements of the nominees.

All three LNR women will be going on to ski at NCAA programs – Claire will be at Middlebury College, Amanda at Michigan Tech University, and Hannah at University of Alaska, Anchorage. “It was great to see their accomplishments in high school skiing, as well as their national USSA skiing results recognized in front of such a talented group of women,” Piotr Bednarski, LNR Head Coach. All three women have been training with LNR for the past 5 years, and will be attending multiple LNR training camps this summer in preparation for their college seasons.