Carrie Stuart, ’02 • Track & Field
Carrie Stuart is one of Carleton’s most successful track and field athletes. She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships seven times in three events: the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, and heptathlon. She found the most success in the longer hurdle races and was named All-America Honorable Mention in 1999 before earning All-America distinction in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Between the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, Stuart earned a total of 10 All-MIAC awards in addition to receiving All-MIAC honorable mention 24 times. A versatile athlete, Stuart picked up these numerous honors while competing in 10 different events during the indoor season and six events at the conference outdoor championships. She captured four MIAC outdoor track and field titles, earning the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles during each of her last three seasons to go along with the 2011 heptathlon crown.
Stuart’s name is found throughout the Carleton record book, as she owns individual top 10 performances in a dozen events, including the school standard in the 100-meter hurdles. She was also part of 11 different relay teams that ranked among the top 10 in program history.
In 2002 she was awarded the Ele Hansen award, which is given to two senior female students who bring to sport the joy of participation and who have positively influenced others through their example, service, and leadership in the athletic or recreation program
Renée Willette, ’02 • Basketball
Perhaps the best all-around player ever at Carleton, Renée Willette was a three-time All-MIAC pick and undisputed leader of the teams that began the most magical run in Carleton basketball history. She led the Knights to back-to-back MIAC Playoff titles in 2001 and 2002, earning the program’s first two NCAA Tournament berths.
As a senior, Willette was one of ten finalists for the Jostens Trophy, awarded annually to the top NCAA Division III basketball player. She was the first player in school history to record at least 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 200 assists.
Willette finished her career with 1,296 points, which ranks fourth in Carleton history. Her name is found numerous times in the Carleton record book as she currently ranks fourth with 296 career assists, eighth with 142 steals, and tenth with 43 blocked shots.
As a rookie, Willette quickly established herself as a dominant player averaging 14.8 points per game, earning a spot on both the All-MIAC team and All-MIAC First-Year Team. For her efforts, she was named Division III West Region Freshman of the Year. During 2001 and 2002, she again led the team in scoring, averaging more than 12 points per game on her way to two more All-MIAC selections.
Together with Bridget Seegers ’01, Lisa Cawley ’01, and Karissa Kramer ’03, Willette served as captain for teams that could be considered among the most balanced and successful in school history. Over Willette’s four-year career at Carleton, the team steadily increased in wins, from 13 during her first year to a then-school-record 24 wins during her senior year.
A recipient of the Pat Lamb Award in 2002, Willette also was named to the second-team Academic All-District women’s basketball team that year.
Mark Weshinskey, ’67 • Football, Baseball
Despite playing in an era of passing-conservative football, Mark Weshinskey helped write the Carleton record book as he established new program standards for single-game, season, and career totals in both receptions and receiving yards. From 1964–1966, he hauled in a total of 99 passes for 1,484 yards, with both figures obliterating the previous school records.
More than four decades later, Weshinskey still ranks among the Knights’ top 10 in career receiving yards and is 11th in career receptions, which is even more impressive considering that the NCAA did not allow freshmen to play on a varsity team during that era.
He established new single-game records with a 10-reception, 188-yard outburst against Beloit College on October 9, 1965. That yardage total still ranks eighth in team history. Later that season, he turned in a 10-catch game against Grinnell College with his 162 receiving yards taking over the second spot on the all-time leaderboard at the time. He scored four touchdowns in 1965 and repeated that performance the next fall.
Following the 1966 campaign, Weshinskey was named to the All-Midwest Conference first team as a receiver and second team as a safety after intercepting four passes. Showing off his versatility, Weshinskey also served as the punter for the team.
He signed with the Minnesota Vikings after his senior year, but his professional career was short-lived when an injury he sustained in his final college game failed to heal in time for training camp.
Weshinskey was a force on the baseball diamond as well as the gridiron, earning All-Conference honors in 1967 as an outfielder. He received an offer to play professionally with the Minnesota Twins following that season.
Marcia Hunt, ’92 • Tennis
A two-time All-American, Marcia Hunt is one of the most decorated women’s tennis players in Carleton history. She and teammate Leslie Gale ’91 were runners-up in the doubles competition at the NCAA Division III Championships in 1990 and 1991. Both years Hunt also earned Academic All-American status.
In 1992 she reached the NCAA Championships in singles and doubles, advancing to the quarterfinals in doubles with Mona Shaw ’93. Hunt won the MIAC doubles crown in 1991 and 1992 and was named all-conference in doubles all four years and singles in 1992. She captained the team from 1990-1992.
Hunt excelled in the classroom, graduating magna cum laude while majoring in English and earning academic all-conference distinction for three years. For her leadership, performance on the court, and academic excellence, Hunt was honored with the prestigious Arthur Ashe NCAA Division III Leadership and Sportsmanship Award in 1992. That same season she received Carleton’s NCAA Woman Athlete of the Year Award and the MIAC’s Chris Evert Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes a senior with outstanding sportsmanship and exemplary athletic, academic, and humanitarian accomplishments.