Winona, Minn. - The Winona State Athletic Department is proud to present the "Warrior Stories" series, which offers fans and followers of Winona State Athletics a view into the success that Winona State student-athletes have had as they transition from their Warrior careers and into the professional world. Warrior Stories is presented by
WNB Financial, a corporate sponsor of Winona State Athletics.
This edition of Warrior Stories features
Courtney Bergum, a former standout on the Winona State women's golf team. Bergum - like many educators around the region - will head into a fall of unknowns and changing plans, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact school opening plans in many communities. Bergum specialized in Adapted Physical Education at Winona State, and works with students with disabilities who have unique learning needs. She is also poised to begin her coaching career in high school golf and girls' basketball. The former two-sport standout at Holmen High School is set to marry Warrior football player
Zach Zangl next summer.
Bergum produced a stellar Warrior career on the golf course, in the classroom and as a leader within the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). Working with other student leaders in the SAAC, Bergum and her peers sought to build awareness of issues such as student mental health, campus sexual assault and the dangers of drunk driving. The Holmen, Wis. product earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) All-Academic honors in three straight years, and led the squad with a 85.3 scoring average in her junior season. As a freshman, Bergum finished 18th overall at the NSIC Championships and turned in a season-best score of 80 at the 2017-18 NSIC Championships.
Read on for the Warrior Story of
Courtney Bergum, a recent WSU graduate in education who first enrolled in Winona State University in the fall of 2015 and has returned to to teach and coach in her hometown.
1) Tell us a little about yourself; when did you compete at WSU? What made you choose Winona State? I was born and raised in Holmen, WI. I graduated high school in 2015 and started in the Fall of 2015 at Winona State and graduated in May 2020 and will be marrying Zach Zangl, former football player at WSU and current math teacher at La Crosse Central next June! I competed on the Women's Golf Team from 2015-2019. I chose Winona State because it felt like home. I was able to meet some of the older players on my visit and saw myself as a fit on the team with the little time I was able to spend with the upperclassmen. The only hard part for me in choosing Winona State over another school was the purple. I grew up with our rivals (Onalaska) being purple and was taught from a young age "to never lose to purple." Over my five (four years competing) the purple grew on me and was more comfortable to wear and a large part of my wardrobe.
2) Where are you working in education and what is your current role? I will be returning to my hometown and will be teaching 6th grade Health and Adapted Physical Education at Holmen Middle School starting in the fall. I am looking forward to also coaching the high school girl's golf team and hopefully basketball as well.
3) How did your academic training at WSU help you in your role in education? My academic training with the PESS, HERS, and Education departments at WSU prepared me with hands-on experience on campus and in the local schools. I was able to implement strategies in a real class and was able to receive feedback from veteran teachers in the field.
4) Coach Straight mentioned you were very active in SAAC. Can you speak to how that helped you both during your time at WSU and perhaps now that you are out in the 'real world'? Being an active member in SAAC taught me a lot. It opened my eyes to issues that other teams and people face that I may not have ever encountered and how we can support one another as athletes. It also taught me how to get involved in the community to better the lives of the people around us and speak up against things like sexual assault through the It's On Us campaign or to advocate against drunk driving through It's A Slam Dunk Don't Drive Drunk. Another area that I really enjoyed was advocating to stop the stigma around mental health. Throughout my years at WSU, we only grew stronger in speaking about mental health and I am going to be taking that into the schools and into my classroom to help students at a younger age learn and advocate for mental health.
5) What do you miss most about being a college golfer? I miss traveling with the team and meeting other golfers from all over the US and even the world. Staying together in the hotels and playing the game we love for a couple days was something that I will never forget along the friendships I made. I still keep in contact with some teammates and even opponents and it is just really neat to see where and what everyone is doing now.
6) Did you have a favorite course to play during your time at WSU? My favorite course I played during my time at WSU was either The Classic's at Madden in Brainerd, Minn. or Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill. These two courses were more strategic in the way to play them and were just beautiful and fun to play.
7) Do you still play golf competitively or recreationally? I play golf more recreationally now getting into more scrambles, but I still love a little competition with Jessica Blanchard and my dad. I will be competitive as a coach now with my high school athletes as well.
8) Working in education, how has COVID-19 affected/changed your day-to-day work? What type of adjustments are needed or have been implemented? This fall, my district will be online until at least October 12. It has changed the way we will deliver instruction and the curriculum through online learning. We have had to adjust curriculum and get creative in the ways we can have students learn about topics like human growth and development, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs as well as nutrition and other dimensions of health. For my APE students, I will be working with them to best fit their needs and IEP goals as the year goes on and hopefully get to meet my students face to face soon!
9) Anything else you would like to share with the Warrior faithful? Be kind to one another. We are all in this together and can get through it. Take care of yourself and take care of others. God Bless!
A big Warrior thanks to
WNB Financial for their support of the WSU Warrior Stories project. Winona State Athletics looks forward to following the coaching career chapter of
Courtney Bergum at Holmen High School and congratulations to Zach and Courtney on their engagement.
For the most current news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
Media Contact:
Pete Watkins, Director of Athletic Communications | Ph: 507.457.5577 | Email: pwatkins@winona.edu
