ST. PAUL, Minn. – Throughout the duration of the spring semester, cspbears.com will feature its spring senior student-athletes who had their careers cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), providing a glimpse into their past, present and future to our followers who were unable to see them compete in 2020.
Due to the ongoing changing legislation with college athletics related to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring student-athletes are expected to retain a year of eligibility. Some of the CSP seniors have expressed interest in returning for the 2020-21 academic year with the goal of competing for their full senior year. Since it's early in the process, cspbears.com will not differentiate between seniors who will and won't return and instead will profile each senior consistently.
Leading off the senior spotlight series is a four year starter for the softball team,
Hannah Carlson, an exercise science major from Rockford, Minnesota. She was a two-time NSIC All-Academic Team student-athlete entering her senior year. She started at third base as a freshman, moving to right field for her sophomore season. As a junior, Carlson started 25 times in right, 17 times at short and played three games at first base while her senior year consisted of 14 starts at short, four at second base and one in left field – a true team player with versatility on defense.
Offensively, Carlson was having her best start with career-highs in average (.358), on base percentage (.455) and slugging percentage (.585) while CSP continued competing against a schedule stacked heavy with regional opposition from the MIAA and GAC. She had three doubles and three homers with 11 RBIs, 12 runs and drew more walks (9) than strikeouts (8) in 19 games (19-53).
For her career, Carlson hit .297/.360/.443 (124-418) with 22 doubles, 13 home runs and 85 RBIs with a career-high of six home runs, 45 hits, 41 RBIs and 19 runs scored as a junior.
Head coach Bob Bartel on Hannah Carlson:
"We asked Hannah to play multiple positions during her career, we haven't asked many players to play that many positions on the field, and that should tell everyone how good of softball player Hannah is. Hannah was a great teammate and friend to everyone and always gave her best effort. She was a complete softball player. We will miss that smile."
HANNAH CARLSON – IN HER OWN WORDS
CSP: At what age did you start playing your sport?
HC: I started playing softball/baseball at age 4.
CSP: Why did you choose to attend Concordia?
HC: I chose CSP because it was a small, close-knit community and I was able to continue playing the sport I love.
CSP: What is your favorite memory as a Golden Bear?
HC: My favorite memory as a Golden Bear is probably the conference tournament last year, especially when Cammy (Cam Veenbaas) hit a home run.
CSP: What will you miss most about CSP?
HC: I am going to miss my softball family the absolute most.
CSP: What are your plans after graduation?
HC: I will be taking a year or two off and then will be attending grad school for Occupational Therapy.
CSP: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
HC: In ten years, I hope that I will be working as a Pediatric OT and have started a family, with a dog… or more.
CSP: Who is your role model?
HC: My role model is definitely my mom. She is the most amazing person I know and would do anything for anyone. She works so hard and still makes it known to everyone she crosses paths with that they are listened to and cared about.
CSP: What life lessons did you learn as an athlete on your CSP team?
HC: A life lesson I learned as an athlete which can be implemented to life as well is to be versatile. If you have multiple skills in different aspects of your life, you will be more appealing to coaches, employers, etc.
CSP: What advice would you give to an incoming freshman about their time at CSP?
HC: Don't take it for granted! Try your best to take every opportunity you can because in the end you never know where it might take you.
CSP: What CSP athlete from a different program do you admire and why?
HC: Danielle Schaub :) She is the absolute sweetest and most genuine person I know. She is kind to everyone and has the biggest heart.
CSP: Do you have a final personalized message you'd like to share with cspbears.com readers?
HC: Thank you for all of your support throughout these past couple of years and through this frustrating and sad time for all of your CSP seniors
