Dakota State University Outstanding Athletes
Conner Tordrsen (2023) - Track & Field (Co-Outstanding Male Athlete)
Conner Tordsen decided to come back to Dakota State University for the 2022-23 season to use up his COVID athletic eligibility. He collected two North Star Athletic Association Indoor Track & Field All-Conference honors by winning the weight throw with a conference meet record of 18.87 meters (61 feet, 11 inches) and earning a runner-up finish in the shot put with a toss of 15.76 meters (51 feet, 8.5 inches).
Those performances fueled the Trojans to their fourth NSAA men’s indoor track & field conference championship in the last five years.
He returned to the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship meet in Brookings, S.D., and became the first DSU men’s weight thrower to be named NAIA All-American after placing sixth overall with a throw of 18.26 meters toss (59 feet, 11 inches).
His athletic accomplishments kept piling up during the outdoor track & field season for the Trojans. He set numerous school records in both the hammer throw and discus throw. For the first time in school history, Tordsen was honored by the NAIA as the National Field Athlete-of-the-Week on back-to-back weeks.
He captured three throwing titles at the North Star Athletic Association Outdoor Track & Field Championships, propelling the Trojans to their fourth consecutive men’s conference team title. He was named the conference Field Athlete-of-the-Meet for the second straight year. He earned this award by scoring a total of 35 points in the meet by winning the hammer throw, discus, and shot put. He also finished fourth in the javelin throw.
Tordsen won the NSAA hammer throw title for the third consecutive year with a conference meet record of 60.11 meters (197 feet, 2 inches), breaking his previous record of 58.58 meters (192 feet, 2 inches) in the 2022 conference meet. He also won the conference’s discus throw title for the second straight year.
The league head coaches also voted Tordsen as the NSAA Outdoor Men’s Track & Field Most Valuable Athlete for the second straight year.
His season wrapped up at the NAIA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Marion, Ind. He kicked off the meet with his second straight All-American finish in the outdoor hammer throw, placing fourth wit a throw of 59.95 meters (196 feet, 8 inches).
It was a history in the making on the second day of the national meet, when Tordsen became the Trojan men’s outdoor track & field athlete and first discus thrower to win a national title. He is the third DSU athlete to be an individual national champion in track & field. He tossed 54.14 meters (177 feet, 7 inches) on his very first discus throw attempt which proved to be the winning throw. He also competed in the shot-put on the third day of the national meet.
Tordsen finished his stellar career with four NAIA All-Americans accolades, 15 overall NSAA All-Conference honors in both football and track & field, and NAIA and NSAA Scholar-Athletes recognition for his academic success.
He holds the top three all-time school records in DSU men’s indoor track & field weight throw, including the 19.36 meters toss (63 feet, 6.25 inches) this past winter. Tordsen is also the second all-time record holder for indoor track shot-put, with 15.76 meters toss (51 feet, 8.5 inches).
In the most recent outdoor track & field season, he established school records in the hammer throw with 62.36 meters (204 feet, 7 inches) and discus with a throw of 54.47 meters (178 feet, 8 inches). In addition, he was .03 meters shy of tying the DSU outdoor shot-put toss school record by recording a toss of 16.32 meters (53 feet, 6.5 inches).
Treshawn Roberts (2023) - Track & Field (Co-Outstanding Male Athlete)
Treshawn Roberts of DSU track & field program was also selected to the DSU Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year. This is the second consecutive season he earned this award, thanks to his impressive performances in both indoor and outdoor multi-events.
Roberts was tabbed as the NSAA Men’s Indoor Field Athlete-of-the-Meet after racking up 32 points in the conference meet. He captured the conference’s heptathlon title for the second straight year, his third title in the past four seasons with a conference meet record of 5,121 points. He also captured the conference’s pole vault title, earned fourth place in the long jump, fifth in the high jump, and sixth in the shot put.
He was voted as the NSAA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Most Valuable Athlete award by the league’s head coaches.
After holding second place in the heptathlon on the first day in the 2023 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, Roberts claimed the national runner-up honor on Day 2 after hitting a new school record of 5,174 points. It was the second straight year that he collected the NAIA All-American heptathlon accolades. It was his third NAIA All-America multi-event during his career at Dakota State.
Roberts established a new outdoor decathlon school record of 6,772 points during the South Dakota Early Bird meet in Vermillion, S.D., on April 7-8. That points total was the second met in the NAIA’s decathlon during the 2023 outdoor season.
He suffered an injury after the meet and was unable to compete at the NSAA outdoor conference meet but returned to action at the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. While dealing with lingering injury, Roberts rose to seventh place in the decathlon standings before the final event. He was unable to finish the final event, the 1500-meter run, but still he collected 5,948 points.
Roberts continued to be an integral member of the Trojan track & field teams that won the North Star Athletic Association title for the second straight year, as well as historic four-peat NSAA Outdoor Track & Field conference title.
Elsie Aslesen (2023) - Basketball (Outstanding Female Athlete)
The Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year goes to Elsie Aslesen of women’s basketball. She fueled the Trojan women’s basketball team to a school record breaking season, which included 29 victories and a trip to their first ever NAIA Women’s Basketball national semifinals, what it is called the ‘Fab Four.’
She has been with the Trojan women’s basketball team for the past three seasons, helping the squads to their third consecutive North Star Athletic Association regular-season title with an astounding 40-2 conference record combined during those years.
Aslesen was a 3-time North Star Athletic Association selection, most recently as a First Team selection. She was voted as the league’s Defensive Player of the year and All-Defense Team. She was selected to the NAIA Women’s Basketball All-America Third Team, the fourth straight season that DSU has had a player listed on the NAIA Women’s Basketball All-America teams.
Aslesen led the team with 13.5 points (433 total points), and 2.8 blocks (88 total blocks) per game. She also averaged 7.1 rebounds per game (227 total rebounds) during the 2022-23 season.
She finished her career by holding records for the third most single season blocks and third all-time blocks with 211 blocks for the Trojans. She finished second in the NAIA in total blocks.
Aslesen also was named to the 2023 NAIA Women’s Basketball All-Tournament Second Team after averaging 14.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in five national tournament games. She also hit 53.5 percent from the field and registered 15 blocks during the national tournament.
She is 15th all-time in DSU women’s basketball scoring list with 1,118 points, surpassing the DSU’s 1,000-point milestone during the regular-season finale at DSU Fieldhouse versus Bellevue (Neb.). She is seventh all-time in field goal percentage with 51.6 percent (404-of-782 field goals) and fifth in free-throw percentage of 76.9 percent (240-of-312 free-throws). Her 240 free-throws made her 10th all-time in free-throws made.
Aslesen received the NAIA and NSAA Scholar-Athlete awards for her academic achievements in the classroom. She received her second Student Research Initiative grant to continue her biology research after finding neonicotinoid presence in bird eggshells last year. She is continuing her education in the master’s program in Iowa.
Mason Macaluso (2023) - Baseball (Dusty Andersen Award)
Mason Macaluso of Dakota State baseball program is the 2023 recipient for the Dusty Andersen Memorial Award, which is second straight year that he had received this annual award.
The award is presented each year to an outstanding male basketball or baseball player who exhibits active participation in campus activities. The award is named Dusty Andersen, who was a letter-winner in both basketball and baseball at Dakota State from 1966 through 1969. In addition to his athletic involvement, Dusty was active as President of the Varsity Club and was a member of the Student Senate, the band, and the physical education major club.
Macaluso was selected to the North Star Athletic Association Baseball All-Conference First Team, and it was the third straight year that he was named to All-Conference teams (twice as First Team selection). He finished the 2023 season with a .328 batting average (61-of-186 at the plate) for the Trojans. He also produced a slugging percentage of .597 with 11 home runs, 15 doubles, 1 triple, and 34 singles.
Macaluso broke the all-time career home runs and RBIs records on the same play in Lincoln, Neb., versus Presentation (S.D.) last April. He shattered the career records of 30 home runs and 158 runs batted in.
He earned a place on the College Sports Communications Academic All-District Baseball Team for the second straight year. He also received the NAIA and NSAA Scholar-Athletes honors for his academic excellence.
Macaluso was one of the integral members of the DSU baseball team that set the team record 24 North Star conference victories, including second longest winning streak of 21 games, and produced the most victories since the 2007 season with 36 wins.
