Determined and passionate about the sport of tennis, Lauren Hom Oien produced one of the most impressive careers in a long legacy of success within the Gustavus women’s tennis program. Oien captured a national championship, five All-America honors, and never lost a conference match in singles or doubles her entire career.
In her first season on the team, Oien made an immediate impact by playing No. 2 singles and doubles. She earned runner-up in the ITA Midwest Region singles draw and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Oien moved into the No. 1 spot in both singles and doubles her sophomore season where she won the ITA Midwest singles championship and went on to finish third at the national tournament. She also won the ITA regional doubles title and took fifth place at the national tournament with partner Kara Smiley. During the spring season, Oien and Smiley reached the finals of the NCAA doubles tournament where they fell to teammates and fellow Hall of Famers Tara Houlihan and Lyndsey Palen. During her junior campaign, Oien repeated as the ITA Midwest doubles champion and culminated the fall season as the ITA national doubles champion with partner Marla Menne.
Oien finished her career with unblemished records of 32-0 against MIAC singles opponents and 28-0 against conference doubles opponents. Oien went 84-21 overall in singles and 96-13 in doubles. She helped the Gusties capture four consecutive MIAC team championships with a perfect 40-0 record and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament all four years.
After graduating in 2007 with a major in biology, Oien briefly taught tennis at White Bear Lake Lifetime Fitness and was the head girls’ tennis coach at St. Paul Academy from 2008-12. For the past 13 years, she has worked at Medtronic as a clinical research specialist. Lauren lives in Rochester, Minn. with her husband Mike and their children Asher, Vera, and Lettie.
