Sports
Hale and Bledsoe Named Top Senior Student-Athletes
Story Links Curtis Hale from the men’s soccer team and Healy Bledsoe from the women’s basketball and lacrosse teams were named recipients of the annual Van Diest and Laura Golden awards, respectively, as Colorado College’s top male and female student-athletes among the 2025 graduating class. The awards, given to the […]
Curtis Hale from the men’s soccer team and Healy Bledsoe from the women’s basketball and lacrosse teams were named recipients of the annual Van Diest and Laura Golden awards, respectively, as Colorado College’s top male and female student-athletes among the 2025 graduating class.
The awards, given to the outstanding male and female student-athletes who demonstrate excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and college contribution, were presented on Tuesday, May 6, during the school’s honors convocation.
Hale earned his first All-America selection last fall and is the first player in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history to win the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
The Richmond, Va., native also earned All-Region First Team honors for three consecutive seasons. Last fall, he started all 22 matches in 2024, racked up a career-high eight points (2g, 4a) and directed the CC defense that finished second in the nation in goals-against average (1.83).
Hale has a 3.81 grade-point average and is majoring in mathematical economics. He was named a CSC Academic All-American each of his last two seasons at Colorado College.
Bledsoe, meanwhile, helped the women’s basketball team to a program-record 23 victories and first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament since 1990 this season. She was the SCAC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior.
The senior from Bend, Ore., was also a vital part of guiding the women’s lacrosse team to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, including a run to the Sweet 16 as a junior. Bledsoe was a first-team all-region selection in 2024 and a preseason All-America honorable mention heading into her senior campaign.
Bledsoe has a 3.87 grade-point average with a major in education and is a four-time selection to the CSC Academic All-District teams.
The Van Diest Award, named after former Colorado College trustee and local civic leader Edmond C. Van Diest, has been presented annually since 1936. The Laura Golden Award originated in 1981 in honor of the late women’s basketball coach and 1995 CC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and has been awarded every year thereafter except for 1982 and 1995.
Several other Colorado College student-athletes received an all-campus award on Tuesday:
Will Bavier (men’s soccer) – Japanese Language Award
Veronica Bianco (women’s soccer) – E.K. Gaylord Award for Journalism
Erin Capell (women’s track & field) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business
Kaelin Enga (women’s soccer) – Mary Alice Hamilton Award in Organismal Biology and Ecology
Sean Lam (men’s track & field) – ACS Analytical Chemistry Award
Julien Lee (men’s cross country / track and field) – Award in Excellence in French
Alison Mueller-Hickler (women’s cross country / track and field) – Crown-Goodman Presidential Scholarship
Lola Muntiu (women’s swimming) – ACS Analytical Chemistry Award
Kelsey Shankle (women’s lacrosse) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business
Ashley Stewart (women’s soccer) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business