BURNSVILLE – A total of three Southwest Minnesota State University student-athletes have earned the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award, NSIC Commissioner Erin Lind announced on Thursday. A record total of 147 student-athletes from the NSIC’s 16 institutions received the award (five more than last year’s record of 142) now in its ninth year.

SMSU student-athletes earning the award include soccer player Emily Huddleston, women’s golfer Lauren Kerr and track & field athlete Angela Prokosch.

The honor, named for the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, is bestowed to senior NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, are exhausting their eligibility and are on track to graduate. Each student-athlete will be recognized by the NSIC with a certificate of achievement and a wristwatch.

“I am filled with pride on how our student-athletes in the NSIC continue to excel in the classroom, in the community and on the playing field,” Lind said. “We continue to increase the number of student-athletes that have earned the Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award, which is a testament to the dedication of the student-athletes, coaches and administrators in our league. These are characteristics in which Dr. Myles Brand emphasized. I am extremely proud of all these student-athletes for their devotion to their universities, the NSIC and to their personal academic and athletic goals. I have no doubt these student-athletes will continue to achieve success in life well beyond the classroom and the competition venues.”

Huddleston, a native of Trenton, Michigan, was a four-year letter winner in soccer and was a three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree while majoring in management and marketing.

Kerr, a native of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is a four-year letter winner in golf earning three Academic All-NSIC selections while majoring in biology.

Prokosch, from Redwood Falls, Minnesota, is a four year-letter winner in track & field and a three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree as an art major.

Dr. Myles N. Brand, visionary leader, educator and reformer, served as the President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 2003-09. He passed away in September 2009 at the age of 67 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Brand presided over passage of the most comprehensive academic reform package for intercollegiate athletics in recent history – a package that refocused the attention of student-athletes, coaches and administrators on the education of student-athletes.

Brand also changed the national dialog on college sports to emphasize the educational value of athletics participation and the integration of intercollegiate athletics with the academic mission of higher education. His impact on Division II ran deep by implementing an identity campaign and a strategic-positioning platform tied to specific divisional attributes. He challenged Division II to continue its game-environment and community-engagement focus, and improve academic success rates.

Content courtesy of SMSU Athletic Communications