Academics are important for any student athlete.
Graduate student forward Savannah Domgaard is making the most of her opportunity as a graduate student on the women’s basketball team.
Domgaard graduated from Westlake High School in Utah. There, Domgaard was a three-sport athlete and was awarded as the school’s Female Athlete of the Year her senior year in 2017.
“I honed in on basketball because of the people that I met along the way. My club and highschool coaches and players really pushed me to get better at the sport. It was like an outlet for me to focus on other things in my life. I am lucky that people saw something in me and decided to help me in the way that they did. Basketball helped me pay for school, get my education, and make some of my best friends,” Domgaard said.
Despite the impressive resume, Domgaard did not receive much collegiate attention at first. Domgaard sent off her film to some schools and eventually committed to play for a local junior college, Snow College (SC).
She was an Academic All-American and selected to the Second Team All Region at SC. Junior colleges only offer two years of collegiate eligibility meaning Domgaard had a big decision to make after her sophomore year.
The forward received multiple Division II offers, but Colorado Mesa University (CMU) stood out from the other schools.
“I love that the program is really focused on winning and being successful. I was really drawn to that because other programs talk about winning, CMU has the resources and the dedication to make it happen. I really enjoyed playing with the girls, and the campus and everything in general was a lot nicer than other Division II schools,” Domgaard said.
As a transfer student, Domgaard had to quickly adjust to the program and gel with her teammates. In her first year at CMU, the 2019-2020 season, Domgaard functioned as a role player off the bench playing in 17 games.
Last season Domgaard expanded her role on the team. She played in 22 games, averaging around 15 minutes on the court. She scored a career high 21 points against Metropolitan State University-Denver and averaged 1.1 rebounds for the season.
Domgaard led by example in the classroom and earned a spot on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Honor Roll. She was also recognized with the RMAC Summit Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average.
Domgaard is returning this season as a starter and a graduate student and taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility offered because of COVID. She is joined by three other graduate students, which provides leadership for a young team of freshmen and incoming transfers which make up 12 of the 17 players.
“Savannah is a great teammate and friend. On the court she is fun to play with and we work really well together and play off each other in an efficient way. Off the court, Savannah is really bubbly and is always making someone laugh. She is also a really good cook; we always go over to her house because her food is so yummy. Overall, she is just a fun person and I am super happy to have another year with her,” graduate student Kelsey Siemons said.
Throughout the seven games she has played in this season, Domgaard has been helpful on the defensive side as she had 34 rebounds with 11 of them being offensive rebounds. She has been able to score 45 points total for the Mavericks as she has made eight three pointers this season.
The Mavericks will continue their home stand as they will play Adams State University on Dec. 17 and Colorado State University-Pueblo on Dec.18.
