Northwestern College to honor former athletes

Three Northwestern College graduates who earned All-American honors will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 3. The honorees, along with the 2015–16 Red Raider Club Coach of the Year and Barnabas Award recipients, will be recognized at a luncheon at 11 a.m. in the Vermeer South Dining Room and at halftime of the football game against Morningside, which starts at 1:30 p.m.

Nathan Jansen of Glenwood, Iowa; Ethan Miller of Mason City; and Randa (Hulstein) Poel of Wauwatosa, Wis., will bring the number of Hall of Famers to 107. Karl Bahrke of Kingsley; Jay McKinstrey, Pella; and Aaron Thomas of Ames will receive Red Raider Club Coach of the Year honors. Anna (Anderson) Moser of Grand Forks, N.D., will receive the Barnabas Award, which is bestowed upon Raiders who encouraged others to strive for their best performance athletically, academically and personally, and who used their sport as a way to bring others to a knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Jansen, a linebacker who graduated in 2009, earned NAIA/American Football Coaches Association and Victory Sports Network/College Fanz All-American honors as a senior, the same year he was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He also earned VSN honorable mention All-American recognition in 2007. He started every game of his collegiate career, earning first team all-conference honors two years and second team honors as a freshman and sophomore. In school career records since 1998, he is second in tackles with 251.5 and tackles for loss with 57.5. He ranks fourth in sacks with 19.5.

A 2005 graduate of MOC-Floyd Valley High School, Jansen works in his family’s trucking business, primarily providing transportation services for Diamond Vogel Paints.

Miller, a 2003 Northwestern graduate, earned NAIA All-American honorable mention in baseball in 2002 after compiling a batting average of .474, hitting 17 home runs and recording 57 RBIs. The second baseman, who earned all-conference honors all four years, made his mark on Northwestern’s record books. He finished his career tied for first in RBIs (155) and home runs (28), second in batting average (.398), third in doubles (44), and tied for fourth in hits (206).

A 1999 graduate of Humboldt High School, Miller serves as athletic director, head baseball coach and PE/health teacher at Central Springs High School in Manly, Iowa. He earned a master’s degree in sport management at California University of Pennsylvania.

Poel graduated from Northwestern in 2010 after an All-American career in both volleyball and basketball. She led the volleyball team to quarterfinal finishes in 2007, 2008 and 2009, earning first team All-American honors and GPAC Player of the Year recognition her last two years. A four-time all-conference selection, she is Northwestern’s career leader in blocks with 183, block assists with 541 and total blocks with 724.

In basketball, Poel was a member of national championship teams in 2008 and 2010, earning first team all-GPAC and second team All-American honors as a senior. In 2009 she set an NAIA national tournament record with 26 rebounds in a game before being named to the All-American honorable mention list. She finished her career with 1,048 points and 770 rebounds.

A 2006 graduate of Sioux Center High School, Poel is a dental hygienist in the Milwaukee area.

Bahrke, a 1979 Northwestern graduate, led the Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central High School boys’ track team to second place in Class 2A last year. That was the third time in four years the team finished in the top four at state. His squad qualified for the 2015 state meet in 16 events and won the Western Valley Conference meet for the fifth consecutive year. The team also placed first in 11 meets and won the state qualifier for the third time in the last five years.

Bahrke, who was named the Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) Regional Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013, retired last year after 33 years at Woodbury Central. He graduated from Kingsley-Pierson in 1974.

McKinstrey, head coach of the Pella High School football team, led the Dutch to a 14-0 record and the Class 3A state championship last year. The 1986 Northwestern College alumnus was named the State Coach of the Year, an honor he also received in 2009, when his squad was state runner-up. In his 18 years as Pella’s head coach prior to this season, his teams compiled a record of 153-48.

A 1982 graduate of Maurice-Orange City High School, McKinstrey teaches business at Pella.

Thomas, who graduated from Northwestern in 2002, led the Gilbert High School boys’ cross country team to the Class 3A state title last year. He was named the IATC Cross Country State Coach of the Year for 2014 and earned regional honors the previous four years. In Thomas’ eight years at Gilbert, his teams have been state runners-up twice and placed third once.

A 1998 graduate of Galva-Holstein High School, Thomas teaches seventh grade math in the Gilbert Middle School.

Moser, who graduated from Northwestern in 2010, was a member of Red Raider basketball teams that were national champions in 2008 and 2010 and advanced to the Final Four in 2009. She led team Bible studies and was a source of encouragement to her teams and coaches. A 2006 graduate of Chariton (Iowa) High School, she is an eighth grade science teacher for the Grand Forks Public Schools.

The public is invited to attend the luncheon. Tickets are $10 apiece. For more information, contact Kara Smit in Northwestern’s athletic department, 712-707-7280 or kara.smit@nwciowa.edu.