April 8, 2008

Ashley Runge Commits to Northland College

The Northland College Women’s Basketball Program has announced that Ashley Runge will be joining the team next fall. Runge, a 5’6” guard, attended Grand Rapids High School and led them to a berth in the Minnesota Class 3A State Tournament this past season. Runge was a three-year starter for the Thunderhawks. In those three years, she led the team to a 56-27 record, including a stellar 25-5 season her senior year. Runge became an excellent scorer this season, averaging 15.5 points per game while adding 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 2.4 assists. She shot the ball extremely well, hitting on 48% of her field goal attempts, including 51% from the arc, and she was also an 85% free throw shooter. For her career, Runge scored 660 points, had 217 rebounds, 129 steals, and 138 assists. She also set school records her senior year for three-point percentage and free throw percentage.

Runge’s basketball honors are numerous. She has been named All-State Honorable Mention, the Hibbing Tribune’s Player of the Year, and was named to the Duluth News Girl’s Basketball First Team. She will also play in two All-Star games, the Pride of the Northeast All-Star game and the Minnesota All-Star Series. Besides basketball, Runge played four years of high school soccer where she was named a Section All-Star and three years of softball where she was named to an All-Tournament team.

Northland’s Head Coach, Dan Roiger, had this to say about Runge, “I am extremely excited to add Ashley to our program. She is an excellent basketball player and a great student who can make a mark in our program. She has a drive to become a great basketball player, keeps adding new skills to her game, and had a great senior year. Not only can she put the ball in the basket from the outside, but I have seen her take the ball hard to the rim and finish in traffic. Ashley’s ability to score from the perimeter fills an immediate need in our program and I believe that she has the ability to quickly contribute on the floor. In addition, Ashley is a player that is very competitive and will continue to get better when she goes against college competition. I will be excited to see her on the floor with our players!”

Ashley is the daughter of Mark and Lisa Runge, and has one brother, Kellen (20). Ashley is an outstanding student, carrying better than a 4.0 grade point average because of her honors courses. She was named Academic All-State and received a Math Award and Science Award from Grand Rapids High School. Roiger mentioned, “Besides basketball, Ashley is an outstanding student who has her priorities in the right order, and has a great personality that will quickly fit into our team concept.”  The Northland College Women's Basketball program had a 3.37 team grade point average this past season and eight players were recognized by the conference with Academic All-Conference Awards.