Annie Adamczak-Glavan is a former Moose Lake High School all-star in volleyball, basketball and softball who won five combined Minnesota State High School League State championships. In her junior year, she was named all-state in all three sports and finished as undefeated state champions in volleyball and softball and runner-up in basketball. In her senior year, she led her teams to unprecedented and unequaled state championships in volleyball, basketball, and softball with an unbelievable combined record of 79-0. During her high school career, Adamczak-Glavan was named Minnesota Ms. Basketball, National High School Athletic Coaches Association Prep All-American Girl Athlete, and Hertz Rent-a-Car #1 Minnesota Athlete of the Year. She was also in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd as a softball pitcher with an ERA of 0.005.

She enrolled at the University of Nebraska to play volleyball where she continued her exceptional athletic career. Adamczak-Glavan made the Big 8 All-Conference and All-Academic teams multiple times and was named an All-American in 1985. She received Big 8 Player of the Week honors three times and was named the 1985 Big 8 MVP as well as making the Midwest Volleyball Magazine All-Midwest Team. Following college, Adamczak-Glavan played professionally for TVS Rudow and the Minnesota Monarchs. In 1992, she was inducted into the Minnesota High School Softball Hall of Fame, and in 2010 she was inducted into the Moose Lake High School Hall of Fame. In 2020, she was inducted into the Minnesota State Basketball Hall of Fame and this year, she was named the #1 Greatest Minnesota Female Athlete of All Time by Tell ’Em Sports. Since 2008, Adamczak-Glavan has been the Volleyball Director, lead skills trainer and a head coach at CLUB 43 Volleyball in Hopkins.

Ann Bancroft is a polar explorer, educator, lecturer, and all-around athlete. Originally from Mendota Heights, Bancroft spent her early years in St. Paul being very active in a variety of sports before setting her sights on becoming an explorer. She played tennis and track and field competitively throughout high school. She initially went to St. Paul Academy during the pre-Title IX era and didn’t really know there was inequality between men’s and women’s sports, but when she transferred to Sibley High School, she noticed those inequities. At the time, court cases were being heard and her father took her to community meetings to hear these stories, helping her become an activist, speak up for herself and make a difference. One of the ways in which Bancroft became active in creating change was by making uniforms in her basement for her team to look more official.

After high school, Bancroft went to the University of Oregon and joined the crew team. Without sports, she would not have gone to college or stayed in school. As an adult, she became involved in polar expeditions. She is the first known woman to cross ice in the south and north pole, as well as lead the first American women’s crossing of Greenland from east to west. Bancroft was also the first woman – with fellow explorer Liv Arnesen – to ski across the continent of Antarctica. During this groundbreaking adventure, they were followed remotely by three million youth around the world. These young people were inspired by educational lessons regarding the changing natural environments on Earth. Not only does Bancroft have a passion for exploring nature but is also dedicated to passing along the joys of physical activity and nature to youth in Minneapolis and St. Paul schools where she taught physical and special education.

In 2016, Bancroft was invited to the White House by President Barack Obama to reach 300 change makers from 25 nations to go back and inspire and motivate their own communities. These change makers were enlisted to advocate for the president’s message calling for international environmental action on the part of the Arctic Science Ministerial to energize local and national communities. In another groundbreaking effort, Bancroft established a nonprofit called the Ann Bancroft Foundation that works toward empowering young girls to imagine something bigger for themselves and reach their full potential. Since 1997, her foundation has awarded close to $2 million to more than 5,000 Minnesota girls in grades K-12. In addition to her classroom teaching, Bancroft has written two books as well as created educational films and curricula.

In 1995, Bancroft was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 1987, she was named Ms. Magazine’s Woman of the Year. In 2001, she received the same distinction from Glamour Magazine and is included in the Minnesota Historical Society’s permanent exhibit which honors 150 accomplishments that have shaped Minnesota. Bancroft currently serves on the Wings World Quest and the Ann Bancroft Foundation Board of Directors, as well as a judge at the Nuclear-Free Future Awards and is a spokesperson for Wilderness Inquiry.

Peg Brenden is a passionate tennis player who made history by advocating for equity reform for girls and young women who wanted to participate in high school athletics prior to the passage of Title IX.

In 1972, the St. Cloud native was named a co-plaintiff, along with Antoinette St. Pierre (a track and cross-country athlete at Hopkins High School), in a lawsuit against their high schools and the Minnesota State High School League to gain equal access to sports. The suit maintained that limiting the schools’ sports teams to boys was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Federal District Court Judge Miles Lord agreed and issued an order allowing both girls to participate on the boys’ teams at their schools. Judge Lord’s decision was appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and affirmed. It was a groundbreaking precedent that helped pave the way for the implementation of Title IX. As a result, Brenden became the first girl in the state of Minnesota to play high school tennis on a boys’ team and served as a role model for other girls across the country.

Brenden earned an athletic letter from St. Cloud Tech High School, the first girl to do so. She went on to play tennis at Luther College and competed at the AIAW National Collegiate Tennis Championships.

After college, Brenden served as co-coach of the Augsburg College women’s tennis team from 1976-77 and was an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota’s women’s tennis team from 1977-79. She served as a Board Member of St. Paul Urban Tennis from 1995 to 2014. Brenden has been recognized by the Minnesota National Girls and Women in Sports Day Foundation with a Breaking Barriers Award and a Special Merit Award. She was also honored with the Distinguished Service Award from Luther College and received the Zapp Historian Award from the Stearns Country History Museum. Brenden pursued a career in the legal profession, serving as a state worker’s compensation judge for 30 years.

Natalie Darwitz is a former professional hockey player and captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team. Hailing from Eagan, she began skating at the young age of five years old.

At Eagan High School, Darwitz was already making her mark as she was chosen to join the U.S. National Team at 15 years old, the youngest player ever to do so. During her high school career, Darwitz led her team to state championships and amassed a total of 487 points in 102 overall games.

Her outstanding career continued in college when she became a member of the University of Minnesota women’s hockey team. As a Gopher, she was a key member of back-to-back national title teams in 2004 and 2005. Darwitz set a school record of 246 points in just 99 career games, went on to break the NCAA record for points in a single season, and was a three-time All-American. She was also a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award and was named Most Outstanding Player after she scored the game-winning goal for the Gophers when they captured their second national championship.

Darwitz’s international career was just as impressive. She represented the United States in three Olympic Games, eight World Tournaments, and 10 Four Nations Cup events, serving as captain on several of those teams. She was named Player of the Year by USA Hockey in 2005.

After finishing her playing career, Darwitz was as an assistant coach at both Eagan High School and the University of Minnesota before serving as the head coach at Lakeville South High School for two seasons. From 2015-21, she was the head coach of Hamline University’s women’s hockey team. While at Hamline, Darwitz’s team set the school record for wins and advanced the Pipers to the NCAA Division III Championship game, becoming the first MIAC women’s team to do so. She coached six All-Americans at Hamline and one of her players earned an Elite 90 award. On July 29, the U of M announced that Darwitz was returning as an assistant coach of its women’s hockey program. She was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Minnesota State High School League's Hall of Fame in 2019.

Jessie Diggins is a professional cross country ski racer who grew up in Afton. She attended Stillwater Area High School and skied on their team for six years, getting to start while in middle school, while also swimming and running cross country.

After graduation, Diggins spent a year racing on the Central Cross-Country Elite team where she decided to pursue skiing as her full-time career. In 2011, she joined the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team as well as a club team, the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team. Diggins won a gold medal with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2013, and two years later won a silver medal in the 10-kilometer freestyle race at World Championships.

Diggins was named to the U.S. team for the 2014 Winter Olympics and again in 2018 where she won a gold medal as the first American cross-country skier in the team sprint along with Randall. She closed out the 2018 Games as the flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony.

At the World Championships in 2017, Diggins won two medals – a silver medal individually and a bronze medal in a team event. With these incredible achievements, Diggins became the first American to take four World medals in cross country skiing and finished second overall in the World Cup standings in 2017-18. Most recently, Diggins captured the Tour de Ski, which is a first for an American, and placed number one overall in the 2020-21 World Cup standings, the first American woman to accomplish that feat. Diggins is deeply committed to social activism around a variety of causes.

She currently serves as an ambassador for Fast and Female, an organization that works to inspire girls from 8-18 to be active and empowered in sports. Diggins is also an ambassador for Protect Our Winters, which aims to affect systematic solutions towards climate change. She has served as a spokeswoman for the organization and has presented her concerns on Capitol Hill. More recently, Diggins became a spokesperson for the Emily Project, an organization that provides treatment for eating disorders and aims to help reduce the stigma and secrecy around this disease.

Tasha Feigh is an all-around athlete from Maple Grove, having competed in eight different Special Olympic sports. Unable to crawl, eat solid food or make any noises, Feigh joined the home of her foster parents Mary and Ed at the age of 13 months. She began to walk at age 3 and communicate with basic sign language at age 4, and through her strength and perseverance, and therapy programs, Feigh was able to progress into the incredible person she is today.

When her family discovered Special Olympics Minnesota when Feigh was 8 years old, she was able to participate in a variety of sports at local, state, and national levels. As an All-State gymnast at the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games, she won a gold medal and four silver medals. In 2019, she participated in the MNUFC Unified soccer team that traveled to Colorado to compete. Throughout her time with Special Olympics Minnesota, Feigh has competed in basketball, bowling, flag football, gymnastics, poly hockey, softball, swimming, and track and field, and was a recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Female Athlete Award due to exceptional involvement and passion for sports.

Her participation in Special Olympics doesn’t just stop at participating in sports but extends to promoting visibility, leadership, and fundraising for accessible sports. Feigh also plays on the MN Special Hockey team. A couple years ago, despite not knowing how to skate, she decided she wanted to try a new sport and through her determination was able to learn how to skate and play the game of hockey. She is a notable face at the Polar Plunge event each year to help fundraise for Special Olympics. When she participated in the adaptive sports program at Osseo High School,

Feigh was honored with the Athena Award and Female Athlete of the Year award for her accomplishments in adaptive sports. Feigh was also named the Star Tribune Athlete of the Week four separate times for adapted softball, adapted soccer, and twice for adapted floor hockey at Osseo. She is currently an assistant coach at OHS in the adaptive high school sports program, providing others with her experience and leadership, as well as mentoring those participating in sports.

Lisa Lissimore is a former high school and college basketball player hailing from St. Paul’s Rondo Community. During her time at St. Paul Central High School, Lissimore was a member of the history-making basketball team that won the first girls’ state basketball tournament sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League in 1976. The team would go on to finish 5th and 3rd in the state during Lissimore’s junior and senior years, respectively. The ‘Whiz Kidd,’ as Lissimore is known in the basketball community, was recognized as one of the 25 best female athletes to ever compete in the St. Paul Athletic Conference. She earned all-conference honors three years in a row, made the all-state team twice, and was a finalist for the prestigious Ms. Basketball Award.

Lissimore’s athletic abilities earned her a basketball scholarship to Grand View University in Des Moines, where the team was among the top 25 in the nation for three consecutive years. Lissimore was captain of the basketball team during her junior and senior years and remains seventh all-time in career steals with 170. After Grand View, Lissimore coached high school and college basketball for six years.

She is currently an Associate Director for the Minnesota State High School League. She has served in this capacity for 33 years, administering the sports of basketball, softball, swimming and diving, cross country running, synchronized swimming, and badminton. She also manages the MSHSL’s sponsorship sales and marketing, Hall of Fame, and several recognition programs that honor high school students for leadership, academics, and community service. Lissimore is an active participant in community service and is a frequent speaker at athletic banquets and in schools across Minnesota. She is a member of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter of Links, which is one of the oldest and largest African American, female-led, community service organizations in the country.

As part of her involvement with equity initiatives, Lissimore is co-founder of the Shooting Stars Inner City Girls Basketball Clinic, a member of the David M. Winfield Scholarship Award Committee and has served on several University of Minnesota’s Athletic Department task forces and advisory committees. In 2002, she received the Minnesota Women’s Consortium’s “Glass Ceiling Award" and in 2007, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Minnesota State High School Athletic Directors Association. She is in three halls of fame has received a Citation Award from the National Federation of State High School Associations for her leadership and advocacy in high school activity programming.

Fartun Osman is the Founder, CEO and Head Coach of Girls Rocks organization. Her journey in athletics began in Somalia where she grew up playing soccer beginning at the age of 3. Back home, she dreamed of one day becoming the first female Pelé. On this journey, Osman could not play professional soccer due to the lack of opportunities in Somalia for women and girls. Although there was this absence, she became a professional basketball and track and field player for the Somali National Team.

After civil war broke out in Somalia, she moved to the U.S. where she started to coach her daughter in soccer. Osman came to realize that the same stigmas and resistance to sports that she had faced in Somalia still existed here in the U.S. These stigmas and stereotypes proved to be a barrier to Somali and Muslim girls wanting to play soccer. To combat this, Osman took it upon herself to make the change that she wanted to see. She started to coach East African Muslim girls on how to play soccer, putting her energy towards educating their parents, the community, and everyone who resisted Muslim girls in soccer. While making progress and strides, Osman fought for the rights of Muslim girls to be able to play sports with their hijabs. Using coaching as a vehicle to break barriers and overcome stereotypes has always been something she wanted to accomplish.

Over the years, coaching and mentoring over 1,000 girls in soccer has helped her feel as though she has made a difference. In 2016, Osman was awarded one of 50 Double-Goal Coach Awards over 2,400 other coaches in the U.S. Over the years, she has received numerous other awards such as the 2011 Virginia Mcknight Binger Award, the 2017 National Women Sports Day Breaking Barrier Award, 2017 Toyota Everyday Hero, and the 2018 International Somali Awards Sports Person of the Year. She currently serves as the Head Coach of the Somali Women’s National Basketball Team and the 2020-21 U.S. Ambassador for Nicaragua-Mexico-U.S. for Sports Diplomacy.

Samantha Seliger-Swenson is a professional volleyball player originally from Minnetonka. With her mother a former volleyball player at Iowa State University and her father a former football player at the University of North Dakota, Seliger-Swenson was active in sports from a very young age.

She played volleyball at Hopkins High School as well as on the Northern Lights club team. With her club team, Seliger-Swenson was an eight-time All-American, a five-time national qualifier, and medaled in 8 of 9 national volleyball tournaments. In 2012, she was named the MVP of the U.S. Junior National Championships after leading the Northern Lights team to an Open 17 championship as only a sophomore. On her high school team, Seliger-Swenson was just as impressive. She was a three-time All-American, a USA Today All-American, and a two-time MaxPreps All-American. In 2014, she was named Miss Baden Volleyball, an award that goes to the top senior player in the state, as well as Minnesota Volleyball Breakout Player of the Year. Seliger-Swenson earned three all-state honors and was selected as a five-time all-conference section player, and a three-time all-metro first team athlete.

After high school, she was ranked 8th overall in the nation as a recruit and joined the University of Minnesota women’s volleyball team. While at the U of M, she amassed more impressive honors. She was the first-ever four-time AVCA All-American, a finalist for Honda Sport Award for volleyball in 2018 and was named Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 2018.

As a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, Seliger-Swenson competed in the Pan American Games, placing 7th in the overall competition. She met her husband Eric Loeppky, a professional volleyball player on Team Canada while playing for Team USA. Professionally, Seliger-Swenson played in France for the Beziers Angels and is currently playing pro indoor volleyball in the Athletes Unlimited Volleyball League.

Deb Sunderman is a former wheelchair basketball player, Paralympian, and physical education teacher. Sunderman was involved with a variety of sports while at LeSueur High School. She ran track and played volleyball her junior and senior year with the latter only having a district playoff since there was not a state tournament available in 1975.

She also played basketball all four years and during her senior year, she participated in the first winter state tournament while her team placed second. After high school, Sunderman enrolled at Mankato State University where she received a degree in health and physical education/fitness. In college, Sunderman played basketball through her freshman and half of sophomore year. Her season ended with a hip injury that caused her to become eligible to play wheelchair basketball.

After graduation, Sunderman joined the Minnesota Rolling Gophers/Timberwolves of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Women’s Division. While playing wheelchair basketball, she was selected to the Women’s Division All-Tournament Team nine times and was named MVP four times. She became a long-time member of the NWBA training camp staff, helping train a new generation of players. Sunderman also represented the United States at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul where her team won our nation’s first gold medal. She also went on to win a gold medal at the World Championships in 1990 in St. Etienne, France. Sunderman returned to the Paralympics in 1992 in Barcelona, winning a silver medal.

Sunderman then transitioned to the coaching profession where she became an assistant coach of the 1994 USA Women’s Paralympic Team, which she coached the team to a silver medal at the World Championships. Two years later, she was selected as the first woman head coach for the USA Women’s Paralympic Team at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, coaching the team to a silver medal.

In 1998, she again coached the team to a silver medal at the World Championships in Sydney, Australia. Sunderman spent 37 years serving as an elementary school physical education teacher at Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools, helping youth find joy in physical movement and activity. Sunderman was inducted into the Mankato State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and received their Distinguished Alumna Humanitarian Award. She was a recipient of the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award in 1996 and the Ann Bancroft Award for Outstanding Leadership and Achievement in 2000.

In 2005, Sunderman was inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame.

Lindsay Whalen was an award-winning high school, college and professional basketball player and currently serves as head coach for the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team. A native of Hutchinson, Whalen was a four-time all-conference pick and led her high school team to three consecutive conference championships.

After her outstanding high school career, Whalen joined the University of Minnesota’s women’s basketball team where she produced a record-breaking career. In 2004, she became the U of M’s all-time leading scorer, finishing her career with 2,285 points, which was the fifth-most in the Big Ten at the time. Whalen also held Minnesota’s career records in points, scoring average, games in double figures, free throws made, and free-throw percentage. She finished her college career as the only four-time team MVP in school history and was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree, a two-time Wade Trophy finalist and a two-time Naismith Award finalist. In her senior year, Whalen made the Kodak All-American First Team, the USBWA All-American Second Team, and the AP All-American Second Team. Most notably, she led the Gophers to its first and only NCAA Final Four appearance in 2004, which ended up being the first of three straight tournament appearances. During the postseason in 2004, Whalen was named the NCAA Mideast Region MVP.

After college, Whalen was drafted in the first round of the WNBA Draft, going fourth overall to the Connecticut Sun. In her first and second seasons with the Sun, she helped lead her team to the WNBA Finals and in her third made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2010, she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx and one year later she led the team to its first WNBA Championship, helping the Lynx record their second-best franchise wins record. From then on, the Lynx and Whalen continued to dominate and made the Finals another four times over a five-year period. When she retired in 2018, Whalen finished with four WNBA Championships, and was picked for five WNBA All-Star Teams, and three All-WNBA First Teams. Her No. 13 jersey has been retired by the Lynx, the Sun, and the U of M. Finally, Whalen was a member of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball team where she helped win gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

In her final year of playing in the WNBA, Whalen was hired as the head coach of the U of M women’s basketball team. In her three seasons guiding the Golden Gophers, Whalen has led the team to a 45-39 mark with a trip to the WNIT in 2018-19. She has coached one WNBA draft pick, one All-American, nine All-Big Ten honorees, two members of the Big Ten All-Freshman team, one Big Ten All-Defensive Team player and 18 Academic All-Big Ten honorees