Renae Bergh

By John Hepokoski
UWRF Sports Information

Falcon junior Renae Bergh first experienced hockey at age 11, seven years later she would find herself in a UW-River Falls uniform.

Bergh's childhood was always fun. "Living on the farm and growing up in the country was a fun experience," said Bergh.

Bergh attended Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School and helped her team to two consecutive National Tournaments.

"My best memory had to be when I got to go over to Sweden with St. Mary's and playing with the Swedish Olympic team."

Following an impressive prep career, Bergh made the decision to attend UW-River Falls.

"I originally came to UWRF basically for hockey, but through the almost three years that I have been here it has become much more than just a place to play hockey."

Bergh appeared in all 25 games for the Falcons in her freshman season and showed she belonged. The 5-6 defensemen finished the season with three goals and one assist to total four points.

In her sophomore campaign, Bergh racked up three points over a four game span on the road and finished the year with five total points including one goal.

So far in her junior season, Bergh has tallied two goals and one assist to help the Falcons to an 8-2-3 overall record.

Head Coach Joe Cranston has helped Bergh improve her play each season.

"I have learned the fundamentals of hockey from Coach Cranston," said Bergh. "It is the simple things that win hockey games."

"Renae is a hard worker and is a very solid defender," said Cranston. "She has been a very good penalty killer, and this year has done some good things on the power play as well.   When she is healthy, I think she can play as good as any defender anywhere. She has a great shot, and this year is getting more time and space to use it. Renae is big and fast and good, she is probably the fastest skater on our team."

Bergh will always remember the Falcons knocking of Stevens Point this season while the Pointers were ranked No. 3 nationally.

"If I couldn't play hockey I don't know what other sport I would play. I ran track when I was younger so maybe I could do that."

Bergh has goals of keeping up her grades, staying free of injury, and just being happy.

"Goals for the team is to take every game individually and work our way to Nationals."

While being at River Falls, Bergh spends most of her on-campus time in class, only staying on campus for the occasional library time.

In her spare time Bergh enjoys spending time with friends, watching TV, and squeezing in naps.

Bergh recently switched her major from biology to marketing communications.

"I will probably be here a few more years," said Bergh. "I'm not exactly sure when I will be graduating."

After graduation Bergh hopes to find a job with a big corporate business.

"After hockey and graduation I will definitely miss the people and the area."