Mike Grossman ’75 • Basketball, Baseball, Football
One of Carleton’s best three-sport male athletes during the 1970s, Mike Grossman was a record-setting offensive weapon on the football field who showcased his all-around athletic ability by contributing to the success of the Carleton basketball and baseball programs as well. A three-time letter winner on the gridiron—since freshman were not eligible to play varsity at the time—Grossman was an All-Midwest Conference performer at tight end and established new school records at the time for both career receiving yards (1,823) and career touchdown receptions (15). He totaled 78 career receptions, giving him an impressive 23.4 yards per catch. He played in 25 games over the three seasons and totaled 99 receiving yards or more on at least 11 occasions. Grossman was a scoring threat from nearly anywhere on the field as showcased by the fact that at least 9 of his 15 touchdown receptions covered 40 or more yards. He hauled in 21 catches for 530 yards and 5 touchdowns as a sophomore, earning the team’s Zell Award for dedication and loyalty to the program. He followed with career bests of 31 catches for 657 yards and 8 touchdowns as a junior, setting a new single-season team record for receiving yards. During his senior campaign, Grossman was credited with 26 catches for 636 yards and two more scores. A starter on both offense and defense, Grossman was also a cornerstone of the Carleton defensive backfield and was on the field for almost every down, including special teams. He helped the football program post three of its top four seasons of the decade. On the hardwood, Grossman was a three-time letter winner and defensive specialist, averaging 6.1 points per game. He also roamed the outfield for the Carleton baseball team.
After majoring in economics at Carleton, Grossman earned his MBA degree from the University of Minnesota and had a successful career in financial services and community development, starting 12 high-growth companies. He lives in Northfield with his wife Sally and has stayed active in the athletic scene during retirement, serving as a both a part-time building supervisor at the Carleton Recreation Center and manager of Northfield’s senior amateur baseball team.
Scott Wilhelmy ’80 • Baseball, Football
After playing four seasons for the Carleton baseball and football programs, Scott Wilhelmy was a 24th-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 1980 as a catcher, becoming 1 of 2 Carleton players ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft. After his professional baseball career concluded, he returned to the Carleton campus and served as an assistant baseball and football coach. A four-year letter winner and multi-year captain, Wilhelmy led the team in hitting as a rookie and posted batting averages over .400 the next two seasons. He made the All-Midwest Conference team after batting .364 as a senior. Wilhelmy was the first Carleton baseball player to win the program’s Kelly Award three times, doing so in 1978, 1979, and 1980. That honor is bestowed each year to the player making the most outstanding contribution to the Carleton baseball team. He was also the first-ever recipient of the Mel Taube Award, given to a Carleton senior for dedication, loyalty, competitive spirit, and excellence in varsity athletics. Wilhelmy was also a contributor on the gridiron. He began his career at running back but transitioned to defensive back, and he served as Carleton’s place kicker as well as contributing as a punt and kick returner.
A political science major at Carleton, Wilhelmy eventually moved out of sports as a profession and went on to have a long, successful career in retail. He resides in St. Paul, Minn., with his wife Rosemarie.
Anna Bandick ’90 • Basketball, Softball
A star on the diamond and the hardwood, Anna Bandick was an all-conference outfielder and a 1,000-point scorer for the Knights. She played second base for the 1987 softball team that went 17-9 and broke the school record for victories in a season. In a sign of things to come, Bandick led that squad in stolen bases. She shifted to the outfield as a sophomore and spent her final three seasons roaming the grass. She earned All-MIAC honorable mention in 1989 while helping the Knights go 17-8, matching the team wins record and giving that squad the highest winning percentage (.680) in program history—a mark that still stands 30 years later. The following spring, Bandick swiped 16 bases—second highest in program history at the time—and earned a spot on the All-MIAC squad. She established what was then the school record with 40 career stolen bases. During her four seasons on the basketball team, Bandick totaled 1,003 points—becoming the second member of the 1,000-point club at the time—and set new school records with 372 career assists and 216 career steals. Three decades later, she is still second in team annals for career assists while ranking third in steals. She stepped right into the lineup as a rookie and averaged 11.9 points, totaled 100 assists, and broke the program’s single-season mark with 71 steals, a figure that currently ranks third in team history. Bandick continued to provide an all-around impact during her sophomore and junior years, averaging 12.0 and 9.9 points respectively. She registered 136 assists as a senior, establishing a single-season team record that still stands three decades later. Bandick set the program standard with 9 steals in a game at Gustavus Adolphus on Jan. 8, 1990. She totaled 415 career rebounds and was the first player in program history with at least 800 career points, 300 assists, and 200 rebounds. With Bandick running the point, Carleton posted the two highest win totals over the program’s first 24 seasons, including the Knights’ first winning season in 1989-90.
Bandick majored in geology at Carleton and earned her master’s in soil science from Oregon State University. She resides in Portland, Ore. and has worked more than 20 years in the water treatment industry, most recently as Senior Product Application Engineer at Suez Water Technologies and Solutions.
Cassie Funke-Harris ’05 • Cross Country, Track & Field
An All-American in cross country and a multiple MIAC champion on the track, Cassie Funke shared her passion for running with a new generation of collegiate athletes. She helped her the Knights post second-place results at both the 2001 and 2002 MIAC Cross Country Championships before leading her squad to the crown in 2004, the program’s first conference title since 1991 and the second in program history. She was the conference’s individual runner-up as a senior, earning her second All-MIAC award. Funke turned in All-Region performances in 2002, 2003, and 2004, before capping her senior cross country season with a 22nd-place individual result at the NCAA Championships, earning her All-America status and propelling the Knights to an 11th-place team result, their best finish since 1991. Funke competed at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships her final three years, contributing to Carleton’s point total each time. Her best results came as a junior, when she claimed the 3000-meter run crown and was runner-up at the 5000-meter distance, securing All-MIAC recognition for both events. During the outdoor track & field season, Funke earned three more all-conference honors and a pair of MIAC titles. After finishing as conference runner-up in the 3000-meter steeplechase as a sophomore, she smashed the MIAC Championships record for that event by more than 12 seconds the following season, a performance that came the day after she won the 10,000-meter race by 15 seconds. She broke the school steeplechase record multiple times during her career, ultimately trimming a total of more than 80 seconds off the standard when she first joined the program. Her best time (11:09.34) came at a last chance meet in 2004. Winner of Carleton’s Ele Hansen Award as a senior, Funke moved into coaching after her collegiate career concluded. She served as an assistant coach for Carleton’s women’s cross country and track & field programs for six years before securing the head coach position for both sports at Amherst College in 2012. Six years later, she made history by becoming the first female head coach of a men’s program at Amherst when she took over the men’s cross country program as well as continuing to guide the women’s team, while transitioning to an assistant coach position with the track & field programs for both genders.
A biology major at Carleton, Funke earned her master’s in kinesiology and exercise physiology from the University of Texas-Austin in 2008. he and her husband Stephen Harris (inducted into the ‘C’ Club Hall of Fame in 2016) reside in Glastonbury, Conn. with their two children.
Kristi Colbenson ’05 • Track & Field, Basketball, Cross Country
A two-time All-American in outdoor track & field, Kristi Colbenson was also an all-conference performer for the women’s basketball program at Carleton. At the time of her graduation, she ranked among Carleton’s top 5 in five events, including what was then the school record in the javelin (40.78 meters). Fifteen years later, she still ranks inside the top 5 for the javelin, 400-meter hurdles, and heptathlon, and is within the top 10 for the long jump and shot put. Colbenson displayed a knack for learning and excelling at new and highly technical events, given that of the eight events in which she competed at Nationals—the 400-meter hurdles and the seven heptathlon events: 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin, and 800-meter run—the only one she had done before attending Carleton was the 800-meter run. As a sophomore, she placed fifth in the javelin at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, breaking her own school record with a toss of 40.92 meters (134 feet, 3 inches). She also competed in the heptathlon that year, finishing 12th with 4,327 points. The next spring, Colbenson won the heptathlon at the MIAC Outdoor Championships and followed that up with a seventh-place performance (a personal-best 4,531 points) in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships, earning her second career All-America Award. Colbenson did not compete in track & field as a senior after sustaining an injury during the basketball season, a rare misfortune to her hoops career that included the Knights capturing back-to-back-to-back MIAC regular-season titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005 as well as winning three consecutive MIAC Playoffs in 2002, 2003, and 2004 to advance to the NCAA Championships each time. Carleton went a combined 93-19 (.830) over that span, including 75-11 (.872) in MIAC play, posting four of the top five win totals in program history. Known for her tenacity and work ethic, she was voted to the All-MIAC team as a senior and earned All-Defensive Team recognition. Colbenson also ran cross country her first year on campus and was an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar.
Colbenson majored in biology at Carleton and received a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She went on to earn a medical degree from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. After her residency and fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she returned to Minnesota and serves as Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine & Sports Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. Inducted in to the Mayo Clinic Hall of Fame in 2019, Colbenson also spent time as team physician for USA Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. She lives in Rochester, Minn. with her husband Nate Rykal and their three children.
Kate Alexander ’10 • Swimming
Kate Alexander established herself as one of the top swimmers in Carleton history, earning All-America status once and garnering All-America Honorable Mention another eight times. She was the MIAC Swimmer of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and was selected as the Swimmer of the Meet at the MIAC Championships both times. She won a total of 13 MIAC titles, with eight of those coming during individual events and the other five via relays. Alexander collected a total of 24 all-conference awards (for finishing in the top 3 at the MIAC Championships), including the maximum 12 individual events. At one point, Alexander held the MIAC overall records in four events: the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys plus the 200- and 400-yard medley relays. She also factored in the MIAC Championships record for those four events in addition to the 200-yard breaststroke. A decade later, Alexander still holds the Carleton records for the 200 IM (2:06.94), 200 medley relay (1:46.59), and 400 medley relay (3:52.55). At the time she graduated, she also owned school records for the 200 breaststroke (2:22.37) and 400 IM (4:29.24). Alexander burst onto the scene in 2007, winning four MIAC titles and becoming the second female swimmer at Carleton to win all three of her individual events (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 breaststroke) during her rookie season of collegiate competition. She capped that year by earning All-America status after placing eighth in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships and added a 12th-place swim in the 100-yard breaststroke that same year to secure All-America Honorable Mention. Her sophomore campaign brought five more conference titles and seven All-MIAC performances. Alexander earned All-America Honorable Mention five times that season, doing so in the 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 MR, and 400 MR. She turned in three more first-place swims (400 IM, 200 MR, 400 MR) at the 2009 MIAC Championships, helping Carleton win the team title for the third time in school history. She once again raced at the NCAA Championships, taking home All-America Honorable Mention in the 200 and 400 medley relays. Alexander’s senior season concluded with six all-conference performances, including her final individual title, this one coming in the 100 breaststroke. She also competed for Carleton’s outdoor track & field teams in 2007 and 2008. Alexander earned multiple CSCAA Scholar All-America Awards and received Carleton’s Pat Lamb Award, which recognizes two outstanding senior female athletes who have achieved athletic excellence at the varsity level and a high level of academic achievement.
Alexander majored in biology/biochemistry and earned a doctorate degree in biology from Cornell University in 2016. She currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Pennsylvania and was recently awarded the Marlene Schlomchik Fellowship in Cancer Research.
Leon Lunder • Athletic Administrator, Professor
Leon Lunder served in a variety of roles during more than three decades as a member of the Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation (PEAR) Department. He came to Carleton in 1982 and impacted thousands of student-athletes over the years before retiring in 2014. Lunder led by example in the classroom, on the field, and in the College’s administration. His influence, spirit, and leadership left an almost unmatched impact on Carleton athletics as he cared deeply about his student-athletes, his coaches, his support staff, and his faculty colleagues. Lunder began his time at Carleton as an assistant football coach (1982-94) and assistant track & field coach (off and on from 1982-83 through 2013-14). He was head wrestling coach from 1984-90 and served as Carleton’s Director of Men’s Physical Education from 1984-88. Lunder was named Carleton’s first athletics coordinator in 1990 and was promoted to Athletic Director in 1992, serving in that role until the end of the 2009-10 academic year. He was the Chair of the PEAR Department from 1992-2005. Lunder also spent time working as Carleton’s athletics trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and professor as he taught numerous physical education activity and coaching classes as well as courses in biochemistry and human physiology for the College’s biology department. Lunder chaired Carleton’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and administered Carleton’s indoor and outdoor track & field meets. His impact as an athletic administrator was felt throughout campus and across collegiate athletics. He led the efforts to build the Carleton Recreation Center and hired 14 coaches who would go on to earn MIAC Coach of the Year honors and guide their teams to numerous MIAC regular-season and postseason titles. Extremely well respected by his peers, Lunder earned the 2006 Athletics Director of the Year Award for the central region from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). He served as president of the National Association for Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) from 2000-02 in addition to stints on the NCAA Management Council, NCAA Budget Committee, and the Division III Financial Aid Task Force. He was also involved with several national committees and directed multiple NCAA Championships.
Lunder lives in Northfield with his wife Claudia.