Caroline Powers Set for MSU Hall of Fame Induction

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Alongside four other standout student-athletes and one iconic coach, former Michigan State women's golf All-American Caroline Powers has been selected for induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Celebration will take place on Friday, Sept. 12. There will also be a special recognition of the 2025 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class during the Michigan State-Youngstown State football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13. The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, displays plaques of the 187 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.

Caroline Powers (2009-13)
Women's Golf
Bowling Green, Ohio

When Caroline Powers stepped on Michigan State's campus during a visit as a high schooler, she knew she had found a home.

Everything seemed right for her – from the campus to academics and, of course, the women's golf program.

"It became home instantly, I would say," Powers said. "I think one of the reasons why I chose to come here in the first place is because of that sense of home and that sense of family."

Powers joined the women's golf program in 2009 and proceeded to rewrite the Spartan record books in the process, becoming one of the most decorated golfers under legendary head coach Stacy Slobodnik Stoll.

Yet, when she received the phone call that she was going to be inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 Class, the thought was far from her mind, but one she had worked toward while playing to follow I the footsteps of her cousin, Emily Bastel (MSU HOF 2012).

"I wasn't even expecting it and when I got the call, I got chills," Powers explained. "Stacy was playing (in the Michigan Open) so I couldn't wait to call her, say thanks and chat about it. It was really, really exciting."

What was equally as exciting is what Powers did during four years of playing for Michigan State, both on and off the course.

Powers graduated with a 3.87 grade-point average, was a Second Team Academic All-America selection, an Academic All-Big Ten selection three times, and was the recipient of the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor and the Chester Brewer Leadership Award.

On the course, she was as successful, if not more. Powers completed her career as the school's all-time record holder in scoring average (74.26, now seventh best) and owned the top three single-season scoring averages in program history, including her record 73.53 she set as a sophomore (which is now 14th).

Powers was a three-time honorable mention All-American and All-Big Ten First Team selection, the 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year and was the recipient of the Alderton Award, given to the top female student-athlete at MSU, three straight years.

She helped lead the Spartans to back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 2011 and 2012 and a school-record finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships as the team tied for ninth place. In addition, she qualified as an individual for the 2011 NCAAs and placed sixth, tied for the highest finish ever by a Spartan at nationals.

In her senior season, Powers posted six top-10 finishes in MSU's 11 tournaments and compiled a 73.81 average, the third lowest in school history at the time. Powers finished runner-up at the Big Ten Championships with a 3-over 219 and was named to the All-Championships Team for the third-straight year. She closed the season ranked No. 30 in the nation by Golfweek and had the highest Golfweek/Sagarin rating in Big Ten competition with a 72.11.

Yet, the records she was setting and the awards she won never really stood out for her.

"To me, it was just like, 'Let's see how good I can get.'' Powers said. "So much of that is a testament to Stacy and (former assistant) Lorne Don, for seeing my potential when I didn't. I was just coming along, trying to follow what the others were doing and showing us. I was a freshman when Laura Kueny was a senior and she was a great person to understand golf from and competitiveness from.

"I think my sister is probably the one that tries to remind me of (the awards), and I think it feels a little odd for me. When you get into coaching and you get into motherhood, you forget about the things that got you to that place. But I think if I look at it on paper, without my name attached to it, it really surprises me. It's pretty awesome that a girl from Bowling Green, Ohio achieved those awards."

Powers is not surprised to see the records she set as a collegian broken by the golfers who followed in her footsteps, including several she coached during six years as an assistant to Slobodnik Stoll from 2016-22.

"I think that when you are in it, it seems very obvious. 'Of course we're going to win a conference championship and be at the national championships.' But when you get on the coaching side, you realize how hard it is to do what Stacy has continued to do for her entire career," Powers said. "And to continue to produce people who are breaking records of the previous players, that's the goal - to set a bar, and to have the next generation of people break it and continue to grow and drive.

"It's really amazing and I think it's a point of pride, especially to be a Northern school. I think the culture she has built and what it means to be a Spartan is what has sustained the on-course performance so much because everybody that comes to Michigan State and plays for Stacy, they all feel that. In a world where it's easy to go to a school and just put in your time and leave, that's just not how it goes at Michigan State. That's why the success continues to come."

Her playing career and relationship with her head coach spawned a relationship that not only helped Powers in her career path, but also helped her find a home.

"Being a Spartan is everything to me," Powers said. "So much of my life that's come even since then, it's all because of Michigan State.

"Having Stacy be a mentor and help me with golf, to start working there and getting into the coaching world because of it, to meeting Dan (Ellis, her husband, a former MSU men's assistant coach), that's led to our family, that led to my sister moving to town and her family. There's so many of these parts of my life that have come about, it's all tied back to Michigan State. I am so proud to be a Spartan and just forever thankful for everything that the University and the golf program have done for me and my family."

Following her time as an assistant at MSU, Powers took over as the head coach at Notre Dame for three years before stepping aside to move home, to East Lansing, to care for her growing family. The timing on her family's move back to the area later this summer, with the Hall of Fame induction soon after, will be something she won't forget.

"I haven't envisioned it, but when you go to a college town, there's always that sense of home," Powers said. "But also, when you're gone for any amount of time, so many things change, there's new buildings, there's new people, there's all of those factors. Regardless of those changes, it's still home for me and Dan. To be able to see my name go up there and be able to celebrate with my family and the people that made it happen, that's going to be pretty special."

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