Rochester, MN-

As winter sports ramp up in the  Minnesota College Athletic Conference., a pair of teams from outside the basketball and wrestling ranks have earned the U.S. Marine Corps Team-of-the-Week honors as December gets underway.   The inaugural "MCAC Team-of-the-Week" is a new awards initiative sponsored by the United States Marine Corps to be conducted over the 2018-19 academic year in the MCAC. 

Rainy River Community College and Minnesota West CTC could not be any further apart geographically in the state of Minnesota, with RRCC overlooking the Canadian border and MnWest just a few miles from Iowa.  However, intercollegiate athletics teams at both campuses share the common feature of working to give back to their communities.  For the efforts of both the BlueJay football program and the Voyageur women's hockey team, each team has been tabbed the MCAC / U.S. Marine Corps Team-of-the-Week for the week ending December 2. 

The Rainy River  women's hockey team, a ACHA Division II-affilated program, took time out of their busy early season to staff holiday bell ringing donation stations in the International Falls area.  

Earlier this fall, Voyageur players and coaches took part in establishing an Annual Cancer Awareness walk at the Rainy River Community College campus, designed to benefit those affected by cancer in the I-Falls area and surrounding counties. 

At the far end of the state, the Minnesota West Community & Technical College BlueJay football program volunteered with the Operation Christmas Child program in Worthington, Minnesota. 

Minnesota West head coach Jeff Linder, his coaching staff and players packed, sorted and organized Christmas gifts to be sent to those in need overseas, as identified by Operation Christmas Child program.   Linder recently completed his 25th year with Minnesota West and stands among the NJCAA All-Time leaders with 113.  

With both Rainy River Community College and Minnesota West CTC student-athletes and coaches taking time to support their Minnesota communities - a common theme on two campuses separated by over 400 miles - the U.S. Marine Corps / MCAC Team of the Week Honors go to the BlueJays football program and the Voyaguers women's hockey team. 

The MCAC 'Team-of-the-Week' initiative is aimed at recognizing a high-functioning team across the Minnesota College Athletic Conference in all sports that reach an important or unique level of success in a given week.  Examples include a program notching a milestone win for their coaching staff, a team participating in a community service project or a squad overcoming adversity to find success on the playing field or court.

Teams and athletic departments from around the Conference will also have access to leadership development initiatives designed and presented by U.S. Marine Corps staff.  

For more information on the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, please visit: http://www.mcacsports.org/landing/index

 

This release sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps. 

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About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference

The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system.  The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions.  The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.