Mines Athletics Celebrates 2023 Blaster Awards

GOLDEN, Colo - Colorado School of Mines Athletics celebrated the eighth annual Blaster Awards on May 2 at Volk Gym, handing out awards in 14 categories to honor the best of the best in Oredigger athletics. Mines head coaches nominated and voted on 11 of the awards while the Community Impact Award was voted on by the Mines Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and the Iron Digger Awards were selected by the Mines strength and conditioning staff.

The winners are featured below. Nominees for each category can be seen HERE.

Female Rookie of the Year

Awarded to an outstanding female athlete who is in their first year of eligibility (either true freshman or redshirt freshman). Transfers are not eligible unless they are a redshirt freshman.

Jordan Tierney - Women's Swimming

An All-American in three events as a true freshman, women's swimming's Jordan Tierney was the RMAC Freshman of the Year earning three first-team all-RMAC awards. She broke four program records as a rookie, in the 100-breast, 200-breast, and two relays, and qualified and competed in the maximum seven events at the NCAA Championships.

Male Rookie of the Year

Awarded to an outstanding male athlete who is in their first year of eligibility (either true freshman or redshirt freshman). Transfers are not eligible unless they are a redshirt freshman.

Lukas Taggart - Golf

One of the nation's top freshmen golfers in 2022-23, Lukas Taggart quickly cemented his spot as Mines' #1 player and finished as the RMAC Championships' individual silver medalist. He recorded three top-10 tournament finishes as a rookie, and qualified as an individual for the NCAA West/South Central Regional Championship later in May. 

Female Academic Athlete of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding female scholar-athlete, with a combination of athletic and academic achievement taken into consideration. 

Zoe Baker - Women's Cross Country / Track & Field

The first three-time Blaster Award winner, Zoe Baker continued to stand out as one of the nation's best scholar-athletes. Baker was the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year in both cross country and indoor track & field, earning all-America honors in both, including a fourth-place national finish in the indoor 5,000m. The NCAA Woman of the Year finalist was the RMAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year as her silver medals in the 3K and 5K helped push the Orediggers to their first-ever RMAC title.

Male Academic Athlete of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding male scholar-athlete, with a combination of athletic and academic achievement taken into consideration. 

Duncan Fuehne - Cross Country/Track & Field
Michael Sprauer - Men's Soccer

A tie in the voting gives the Academic Athlete of the Year award to Duncan Fuehne and Michael Sprauer. Fuehne, a graduate student majoring in physics, was the national bronze medalist and an all-American in cross country, and was named the RMAC Academic Runner of the Year and NCAA Elite 90 winner. He finished ninth nationally at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5K. Sprauer scored seven goals with an assist for the RMAC double-winning men's soccer team, earning RMAC Academic Player of the Year and CSC First-Team Academic All-America honors. Sprauer was named First-Team All-RMAC and First-Team All-Region. 

Comeback Player of the Year

Awarded to an athlete, male or female, who overcame injury, illness, or other adversity, to perform at a high level this season

Carter Noehre - Wrestling

Wrestling's 157-pounder Carter Noehre wins this year's Comeback Athlete of the Year award after a remarkable senior season. After tearing his ACL during the Midwest Classic in December (and still placing in the tournament), he returned late in the regular season to continue wrestling with the injury, and ultimately placed third at the NCAA Super Region VI Championships to qualify for the national championship meet in his final opportunity. Noehre was 15-9 overall in 2022-23. 

SAAC Community Impact Award

The SAAC Community Impact award is voted upon by the membership of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to recognize the outstanding community service by either one student-athlete, a group, or a team. 

Claire Lautman - Women's Swimming

Women's swimming's Claire Lautman earned the SAAC Community Impact Award for her involvement in coordinating the program's Team IMPACT relationship for the past three seasons. Team IMPACT matches children facing serious illness and disability with college teams, and Lautman has helped foster Mines' relationship with the program.

Female Oredigger Excellence Award

Awarded to a female senior who has completed their eligibility and has distinguished themselves in an outstanding manner in achievement, leadership, and school spirit over the course of their Mines careers.

Meghan Slowey - Women's Swimming

A five-time all-American and three-time RMAC Swimmer of the Year, Meghan Slowey's leadership and school spirit went beyond the pool as she was a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and the Society of Women Engineers. A team captain, Slowey was a key part of Mines Swimming's rise over her four-year career, and finished the 2022-23 season finishing fifth nationally in the 1650-free while shattering the program record. 

Male Oredigger Excellence Award

Awarded to a male senior who has completed their eligibility and has distinguished themselves in an outstanding manner in achievement, leadership, and school spirit over the course of their Mines careers.

Michael Zeman - Football

A two-year captain leading Mines football to back-to-back NCAA regional titles, Michael Zeman departs Mines as one of its all-time greatest running backs and overall athletes. He set program records with 4,463 career yards, 55 rushing touchdowns, and 66 total touchdowns, and set the Colorado state touchdowns record as well. A three-time all-American, he ran for 1,303 yards and 21 touchdowns, and caught five more scores, in his final season in 2022. 

Female Iron Digger Award

Awarded to two seniors, one male and one female, who has demonstrated unparalleled dedication to physical preparation. Candidates will have been at the forefront of their team's training in both personal improvement and leadership, exemplifying whit means to work behind the scenes. Candidates must have appeared in at least 50% of their team's competitions. This award is voted on by the strength and conditioning staff.

Annie Osmun - Women's Swimming

An All-American in two relay events this year, Annie Osmun bounced back from shoulder surgery and her work in strength & conditioning helped her and her team have tremendous success in 2022-23. Osmun was First-Team All-RMAC in four events and qualified for nationals in three events and three relays. She was the RMAC 100-fly silver medalist and helped break three program relay records.

Male Iron Digger Award

Awarded to two seniors, one male and one female, who has demonstrated unparalleled dedication to physical preparation. Candidates will have been at the forefront of their team's training in both personal improvement and leadership, exemplifying whit means to work behind the scenes. Candidates must have appeared in at least 50% of their team's competitions. This award is voted on by the strength and conditioning staff.

Josh Johnston - Football

One of Mines' all-time best receivers, Josh Johnston developed himself from a freshman walk-on to an NFL camp invite as a three-time all-RMAC and 2022 all-American. He caught 2,939 career yards and 40 touchdowns (the latter ranking second in program history) and in 2022 produced one of just a dozen 1,000-yard seasons in program history with 1,373 yards and 13 scores. He caught 13 or more touchdowns in a season three times since 2019. 

Female Athlete of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding female athlete of the year

Hannah Miller - Women's Track & Field

Women's track & field's first national champion since 2004, Hannah Miller captured the NCAA Division II indoor pole vault title and RMAC championship, breaking the Mines and RMAC records along the way. A USTFCCCA First-Team all-American and the National Athlete of the Week in February, Miller is on track to return to the outdoor championships as well, and has jumped 4.16m this year. 

Male Athlete of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding Male athlete of the year

John Matocha - Football
Dillon Powell - Cross Country/Track & Field

Simply put, John Matocha and Dillon Powell are the best at what they do - and they share the Male Athlete of the Year Award because of it. Matocha was the Harlon Hill Award winner as NCAA Division II's best football player, quarterbacking Mines to the national championship game with 5,221 passing yards and 52 touchdowns. He won just about every award there is as a consensus national player of the year from multiple organizations and the CSC Academic All-American of the Year in football. 

Powell cemented his status as one of the all-time great distance runners in NCAA Division II history, following up his outdoor 10,000m national title from last spring with the NCAA cross country individual championship in the fall and the indoor 5,000m title in the winter - all three being the first by an Oredigger. He led men's cross country to the national team title, as well. He reset his NCAA Division II indoor 5K record and currently holds the season's fastest outdoor 5K time and #6 10K mark as he heads to the national meet once again.

Coaching Staff of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding coaching staff of the year

Cross Country

Led by head coach Chris Siemers, the cross coaching staff guided the men's team to their third national title, and the women to tie their best-ever national finish. The men won the NCAA Division II title by the largest margin in meet history, producing seven all-Americans, while the women finished on the podium in third place behind three all-Americans.

Team of the Year

Awarded to the most outstanding team of the year

Men's Cross Country

Men's cross country won Team of the Year for the fourth time coming off their NCAA Division II national championship. Dillon Powell dominated the race to win the individual crown with Duncan Fuehne finishing third, Loic Scomparin 10th, Luke Julian 13th, and Chris Cathcart 23rd to set the largest margin of victory in meet history. Even Mines' two non-scorers, Paul Knight (24th) and Steven Goldy (30th), earned all-America finishes, the first time Mines ever had all seven runners earn the honor.