BURNSVILLE, MINN. -- Senior Makenna Rockeman and junior Gabriel Watson of the University of Sioux Falls are among the 32 student-athletes named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Male and Female Honor Student-Athletes of the Year, according to an announcement Friday (April 26) by the league office.

The NSIC member institutions, including USF, nominated one male and one female student-athlete for the prestigious Britton and Kelly Awards, which is considered the top student-athlete honor by the league. All 32 student-athletes nominated become NSIC Honor Student-Athletes of the Year with two being selected as Britton and Kelly award recipients. Those honorees, as announced by the NSIC office, included Kirby Hora of Augustana, who received the 2019 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete; and Anna Winter of Upper Iowa who earned the 2019 Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award.  

The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence recognizes the NSIC's top male student-athlete while the Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award is presented to the NSIC's top female student-athlete. The Britton Award was created in 1985 in honor of Dr. William Britton, a longtime faculty representative at Bemidji State University. The Kelly Award is named in honor of Willis R. Kelly, an associate professor of physical education at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Honor student-athlete nominees must maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or better (on a 4.0 scale); exhibit evidence of academic excellence beyond the minimum grade point average (scholarship prizes and other academic recognition), participate in the life of the institution, and participate in at least two-thirds of the varsity events of the individual's primary sport. The award is voted on by NSIC Faculty Athletic Representatives.

Both Rockeman and Watson have excelled at USF, both in competition and in the classroom.
 

Watson was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year, the D2 CCA Super Region 4 Offensive Player of the Year and Don Hansen Super Region Four Offensive Player of the Year, and a Harlon Hill Award finalist. He was selected to five All-American Teams (Don Hansen, D2Football.com, AFCA, Associated Press and D2 Conference Commissioner's Association).   

A 6-1, 221-pound running back, Watson of Piedmont, Calif., led NCAA DII in three rushing or scoring categories. Watson finished fifth in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the DII Player of the Year. Watson was the first student-athlete at USF to advance into the Harlon Hill finalist group. He had a school-record 11 straight games of 100 yards or more rushing while accumulating a regular season NCAA-high and USF single season mark of 1,957 yards (second overall) on 269 carries with an NCAA DII-high 26 TDs.

In setting eight school records this year, Watson had the top per game average of 177.8 yards per carry in DII, which is also a USF school record. Of players with 200 carries or more, Watson registered the top per rush average of 7.41. The 1,957 yards rushing by Watson broke Max Mickey's school record of 1,764 of 2016. Watson's 26 touchdowns is the most in a single season in USF's DII history and second overall (David Ruter, 29 TDs, 1988). He also led the nation with 14.2 points per game on his 26 rushing scores.

In 2018, Watson had 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the first game he played at USF, which was a 27-24 win over Concordia-St. Paul in the home opener. A junior exercise science major, Watson followed up that opening game performance with games of 172 yards and 193 yards. Against Minot State, he accumulated 205 yards rushing on 15 carries with two touchdowns and played just one half. Watson had a breakout season in his first year with USF. The first-team All-NSIC honoree was named the D2Football.com National Player of the Week after setting a single game USF rushing record of 320 yards on 19 carries with five TDs against MSU Moorhead. A three-time NSIC Player of the Week, he recorded seven games of 150 yards or more with three games of at least 200 yards or more. Watson scored two or more TDs in a game eight times and had at least three TDs four times.
 

A native of Broomfield, Colo. native, Rockeman has been a leader on the USF Volleyball as an outside hitter. A two-time All-NSIC and three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, Rockeman finished her career as one of the school's all-time greats.
 
Rockeman finished her career ranked in the top 10 in 13 all-time USF (DII era) career categories. She was first in career kills (1,285), attacks (3,951), service aces (109) and points (1,488). She also ranked second in kills per set at 3.04, points per set at 3.52, fourth in digs with 719 and third in sets played with 423 and matches played at 113. 
 
During her career, Rockeman helped lead USF to a 67-46 record and a berth in the NSIC Tournament semifinals, a first for the program in 2018. Rockeman was part of the 15-10 team in 2017, 19-10 squad in 2016 and the 20-10 squad this year.

In USF's DII era, she established 14 school records, including three career, five season and six match marks. She had 18 double doubles (kills-digs), 57 games with 10 or more kills in a match and 32 matches with double figure digs totals with a career-best 21 vs Upper Iowa on Oct. 2017. She had has four matches with over 20 kills with a school record 27 vs. Augustana on Sept. 16, 2017 while establishing school record for points with 30 against Vikings that same night.
 
A biology major, she was named an NSIC Miles Brand All Academic with Distinction honoree in 2018-19. Rockeman was named among the 32 NSIC student-athletes for the prestigious Butch Raymond Scholarship in 2018.