Award Honorees

Growing up in Minnetonka Sue Stuebner learned the importance of hard work, the value of education and the benefits of being an athlete. Among her peers in class, she was always the tallest student and stood out because of her big feet. As an athlete, however, Stuebner quickly discovered that these things were an asset. Playing sports was when she felt the most comfortable and that as athlete she had found her niche.

Stuebner played soccer, softball, basketball and volleyball as a kid and went on to become a varsity athlete at Minnetonka High School. From 1985-1989, she played volleyball and participated in track and field, but basketball was where she left her mark on MHS. Among her list of many accomplishments, Sue Stuebner was the first Minnetonka basketball player to score over 1,000 points (she had 1,296 points and 825 rebounds for her career).

By the time she graduated, Stuebner was a 13-time varsity letter winner— five in track and field, four in volleyball and four in basketball. As a Senior on the basketball court she averaged 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and had 36 blocked shots. Sue earned All-Conference, All-Metro and All-State Honorable Mention honors in basketball, as well as being All-conference in volleyball. Her teammates named her team captain two years and as a senior she was captain of the track and volleyball teams, as well.

After high school, Stuebner went on to play Division I basketball at Dartmouth College and was a team captain for one year. After graduating, she was the Division III head women's basketball coach at Albright College in Pennsylvania where she received Middle Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995-96.

In 1998, Stuebner earned her master's degree in administration, planning and social policy and in 2003 she earned her doctorate degree in higher education, both from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She is now a vice president of administration and planning at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania.

Looking back, Sue Stuebner says she is grateful to Minnetonka for not only challenging her athletically, but academically. As a kid in Minnetonka, she learned life-lessons about leadership, mental toughness and teamwork from her coaches, like Joe Lane, and academic discipline and rigor from her teachers.

Her advice to current students is to, "Trust that you will do wonderful things and be confident that if you put in the effort, you can pursue any path."

Stuebner was inducted into the Classic Lake Conference Hall of Fame in 2009. She is married to Amanda Stuebner and they have two children, Gabrielle and Tyler.