Bailey Olson, a senior forward from Wisconsin-River Falls, is the recipient of the 2025 Laura Hurd Award.
The award, voted on by the nation’s Division III head coaches, is presented to the best player at the NCAA women’s Division III level.
Olson is the fourth player from UWRF to be so honored and third in the past four seasons. That ties UWRF with Middlebury and Plattsburgh, each of whom has also had four recipients.
Olson, a senior co-captain from Willmar, Minn., has led the Falcons to a 24-3-2 overall record, winning the WIAC regular-season and the O’Brien Cup, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. UWRF advanced to the Frozen Four with a 4-1 win over Elmira in Saturday’s quarterfinal round. Olson scored an unassisted goal in the second period which proved to be the game winner.
Olson was the 2024-25 WIAC player of the year and an all-WIAC first team honoree. She is the nation’s leading scorer with 56 points off 26 goals and 30 assists in 29 games. Next up for the Falcons is a home semifinal on Friday night against Augsburg.
The runner-up for this year’s Hurd Award is Lily Mortenson, a junior forward at Gustavus Adolphus.
The award is named in honor of former Elmira star Laura Hurd who died in a car accident shortly after graduation. Hurd was a four-time all-American who led Elmira to victory in the first NCAA Division III women’s tournament.
