One of the Blugolds' two national champions receiving Super Six honors this year, Liz Kooistra was a two-sport athlete in both soccer and track.

Kooistra has received many honors in her career and capped off her impressive resume with a national title in the 400-meter dash at this year's NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship. As the 2009 season went on, Kooistra progressively got better in the 400 and set a school and facility record at Marietta College with a time of 54.29. During the course of her career, she shaved two full seconds off the previous school record in that event.

At the indoor and outdoor conference championships last season, she secured conference titles in five events and was named the WIAC Track Performer of the Meet at the indoor meet while being named the WIAC Scholar-Athlete at the outdoor meet.

While she finished her career with these impressive performances on the track, Kooistra also had a very good soccer career.

Kooistra helped lead the soccer team to new heights, securing the program's first WIAC title and NCAA post-season appearance in 2005. The Blugolds went on to win the conference title two more times and compete in the NCAA Championship three more times. She was honored by the WIAC in 2008 by being named the conference Player of the Year.

She was the recipient of numerous team, conference, regional and national awards with her time as a Blugold. The 11-time track All-American earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American honors in track last year while receiving academic all-district honors for both track and soccer earlier in her career. Kooistra was also recognized twice as a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III All-Academic recipient, once as a National Soccer Coaches Association of American Scholar All-Region selection while her team won an NSCAA academic award each year she was on the team.

Kooistra was also the Blugolds' and the WIAC's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year this past spring. She was active in the community, helping with Reading Partners, Best Buddies and Literacy Leaders. A McNair Scholar, Kooistra earned academic distinction honors seven times at UWEC.

Kooistra earned her degree in psychology with a minor in Spanish last spring. She finished with a 3.49 GPA.

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