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Women's golf coach, former golf standout at St. Olaf heading sports information

By Amy Gage
March 19, 2002

NORTHFIELD, MINN. - Le Ann Finger has been named the new sports information director at St. Olaf College. Judy Stromayer, who's held the position for the past year, has been named director of recreation and will also oversee the physical education, recreation and athletic facilities, including the Tostrud Center, a state-of-the-art fitness center on campus, when it opens in September.

Finger, who is in her fourth year coaching the St. Olaf women's golf team, will be media liaison for all men's and women's sports at the college, which is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). She coached her first MIAC all-conference golfer, Jen Moore, last year.

"As a graduate of and former athlete at St. Olaf, Le Ann is well connected with the community and is an advocate for athletics," Stromayer says. "She also enjoys working with sports reporters."

A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Finger earned her bachelor's degree in speech communication and education from St. Olaf in 1985 and played on the women's golf team, where she lettered all four years and served as captain during her senior year. She led the team to the Minnesota Women's Collegiate Golf Association (MWCGA) State Championship in 1984.

"I am very proud of St. Olaf and its athletic programs, and it's quite an honor to return to my alma mater to work with the coaches and student-athletes," Finger says. "I look forward to building on the solid foundation that previous sports information directors have established."

Finger is a nine-time women's golf champion at Northfield Golf Club, where she has been employed as pro shop manager and an assistant golf professional. She passed her Players' Ability Test and is currently an apprentice with the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) of America. She also gives more than 150 private and group golf lessons each summer and has been a golf instructor for Northfield Community Education and Recreation for six years.

Finger began her career as a communications teacher at Valley Middle School in Apple Valley in 1985. She also worked ten years as a marketing analyst with Lutheran Brotherhood in Minneapolis and as an office manager for State Farm Insurance in Northfield.

She and her husband, David, live in rural Dundas with their two daughters, Kelsey, 11, and Brooke, 8. Finger is a member of the Northfield Rotary and an active member of Bethel Lutheran Church.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college located in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with more than two-thirds of its students participating in international studies. For more information, see www.stolaf.edu.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.