Independent file photo SMSU’s Jayden Fleck connects for a base hit during their April 28, 2017 game against Bemidji State University. Both Fleck and Mustang golfer Lauren Kerr were recognized as NSIC Honor Student Athlete award winners.

BURNSVILLE – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Thursday that Southwest Minnesota State University’s Jayden Fleck and Lauren Kerr made its list of 2018 Honor Student-Athlete award winners.

As a part of the Thursday’s announcement, the conference named Mirandu Ristau from Northern State University as its 2018 Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence and Carter McCauley from Winona State University as the recipient of the 2018 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence. The two awards recognize the top female and male scholar-athletes in the NSIC.

Both Fleck and Kerr were honored as SMSU’s Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year at SMSU’s annual Celebration of Excellence program on Monday.

The member institutions of the NSIC nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the Britton and Kelly Awards. The nominees must meet the following criteria: a grade point average of 3.5 or better (on a 4.0 scale); evidence of academic excellence beyond the minimum grade point average (scholarship prizes and other academic recognition), evidence of participation in the life of the institution, and evidence of participation in at least two-thirds of the varsity events of the individual’s primary sport. The award is voted on by the NSIC Faculty Athletic Representatives.

Fleck, a junior accounting & finance major from Hutchinson, is a three-year member and three-year starter on the baseball team. He is an two-time Academic All-NSIC honoree and is batting .309 this season with a team-high five home runs. Fleck has played and started 114 games in his career and has 16 doubles, eight home runs and 53 RBIs.

Kerr, a senior biology major from Apple Valley, is a four-year member of the women’s golf program. An three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, she currently ranks seventh in program history with an 84.9 stroke average in 73 career rounds.

The 32 student-athletes nominated for the NSIC’s two most prestigious awards will also be honored as NSIC Male and Female Honor Student-Athletes of the Year at their respective institutions. McCauley and Ristau will be recognized Tuesday, July 10 at the 2018 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Best Western Premier in Burnsville, Minnesota, and will each receive a $3,000 post-graduate scholarship.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications