From MSU Athletic Department
Former Michigan State women’s golf All-American Caroline Powers has been selected for induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center displays plaques of the 187 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.
When Caroline Powers stepped on the Michigan State campus, everything seemed right for her, including the campus, academics and 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.”
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, Powers completed her career as the school’s all-time record holder in scoring average and owned the top three single-season scoring averages in program history, including her record 73.53 she set as a sophomore.
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.”
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.”
