BURNSVILLE, Minn. — Forty-eight University of Sioux Falls student-athletes from cross country, football, soccer and volleyball have earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Fall All-Academic honors, as announced today (Wednesday, Dec. 1) by the league office.
The NSIC announced that 685 student-athletes have earned NSIC All-Academic honors for the 2021 fall athletic season. To be eligible for this honor, a student-athlete must be a member of the varsity traveling team and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better. Furthermore, the student-athlete must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her/his institution (true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at that institution.
The NSIC highlighted the all-academic team members with a 3.60 or higher GPA on the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. This fall, 394 of the 691 student-athletes had a 3.60 GPA or higher, or 57.0% of the all-academic team. A total of 289 were named Academic All-NSIC. Of that list, USF had 22 of its 47 Academic All-NSIC honorees earn a spot on the All-Academic Team of Excellence (noted by individual below in respective team lists with asterisk).
During the nine years in the NSIC, USF has had 507 Academic All-NSIC honorees from fall sports programs. Those totals include 213 for football; 70 for men's cross country, 63 for women's cross country, 82 in soccer and 79 in volleyball. USF has had at last 47 Academic All-NSIC selections every year since 2015 with 47 in 2021, 48 in 2020, 52 in 2019, 58 in 2018, 57 in 2017, 53 in 2016 and 50 in 2015.
Men's Cross Country (4)
David Ecker*, Sr., Eau Claire, Wisc.;
Aaron Voigt*, Sr., Gregory, S.D.;
Wil Modjeski*, Jr., Winona, Minn.;
Seth Overholt*, Gr., Chester, S.D.
Overholt is a four-year NSIC All-Academic honorees while Voigt and Ecker earned their third honor and Modjeski was named for the second time. All four earned All-Academic Team of Excellence honors.It was the third for Voigt and Ecker, second for Modjeski and first for Overholt.
In the nine years in the NSIC, the Men's Cross Country team has had 70 academic all-league honorees. The team had nine honorees in 2012 following by eight in 2013, six in 2014, seven in 2015, three in 2016, nine in 2017;10 in 2018, nine in 2019; five in 2020 and four in 2021. A total of 20 cross country student-athletes, including four in 2021, have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.
Women's Cross Country (6)
Annika Aho*, Jr., Menahga, Minn.;
Cassidy O'Meara*, Jr., Moorhead, Minn.; *
Zoe Cigard, Sr., South Sioux City, Neb.; Karlee Simmons, So., Keystone, S.D.;
Hannah Ebert, Sr., Beresford, S.D.
Tianna Voigt, Sr., Pelican Rapids, Minn.
Ebert, and Voigt picked up their third honor with O'Meara, Aho, and Simmons being named for the second time. Cigard earned her first cross country honor. Overall, the Women's Cross Country team has had 63 honorees, including three in 2012, four in 2013, five in 2014, five in 2015, five in 2016, eight in each of 2017, 2018 and 2019;11 in 2020 and six in 2021. Twenty-four USF women's cross country student-athletes, which includes three in 2021, have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Aho, Ebert, O'Meara and Simmons earned their second-ever Academic Team of Excellence Award while Cigard picked up her first.
Football (19)
Ben Sokup*, Gr., Altoona, Wis.;
Peter Narrai*,Sr., Franklin, Wis.;
Joe Timp*, Sr., Cottage Grove, Minn.; *
Adam Mullen, Jr., Highland Ranch, Colo.;
Brennan Moran* Sr., North Sioux City, S.D.;
Cal Botsford*, Jr., Sussex, Wis.;
Josiah Jansen*, Jr., Orange City, Iowa;
Grant Rice, Sr., Gayville, S.D.;
Josh Swanson, Sr., Pewaukee, Wis.;
Ty Smith, Gr., Sioux Falls, S.D.;
Jackson Wright Gr., Sergeant Bluff, Iowa;
Joey Wehrkamp, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.;
Nate Durfee, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.;
Bryce Couch, Jr., Trenton, Ohio;
Noah Schmitt, Jr., Jordan, Minn.;
Sebastian Pares, Jr., West Chicago, Ill.;
Dylan Rudningen, Jr., Sunburg, Minn.;
Hunter Schneider, Jr., Ripon, Wis.; and
Cole Campbell, Jr., Geneva, Ill.
Four-time Academic All-NSIC honorees include Smith. Third-time recipients include Wehrkamp, Durfee and Wright. Second-year Academic All-NSIC recipients include Narrai, Timp, Moran, Rice, Swanson, and Couch. First time honorees include Mullen, Botsford, Jansen, Schmitt, Pares, Rudningen, Schneider and Campbell. Overall, the team has had 213 honorees since 2012 with 18 in 2012, 19 in 2013, 23 in 2014, 31 in 2015, 29 in 2016, 25 in 2017;18 in 2018, 17 in 2019; 14 in 2020 and 19, 2021. Twenty-eight, which includes eight from the 2020 football squad, have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Of that total, two-time Academic Team of Excellence honors include Soukup, Narrai, Timp, and Moran. Honored for the first time included Mullen, Jansen, and Botsford.
Soccer (9)
Kyla Gushard*, Sr., Lincoln, Neb.;
Catie Caruso*, Sr., Greendale, Wis.;
Taylor Kelley*, Sr., Sioux City, Iowa;
Olivia Valdez*, Sr. Broomfield, Colo.;
Bailey Kehrli, Jr., Elkhorn, Neb.;
Kassidy Graber, Sr., Lindstrom, Minn.; Alexis Naujokaitis, Jr., Omaha, Neb.;
Holli Knudsen, Jr., Omaha, Neb.; and
Aundria Vargas, Jr., Hayward, Calif.
Valdez was named a four-time Academic All-NSIC selections. Named for the second time was Gushard, Caruso, Kelley, Kehrli, Naujokaitis and Vargas. First-time honors included Knudsen and Graber. The Soccer Team has had a total of 82 honorees since joining the league, including seven in 2012, six in 2013, one in 2014, six in 2016, seven in 2017 and a program-high 12 in 2018 as well as in 2019;11 in 2020 and nine in 2021. Twenty-three USF soccer student-athletes, which includes three this year, have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Gushard and Caruso picked up their second honor and Kelley her first.
Volleyball (9)
Krista Goerger*, Sr., Mankato, Minn.;
Marlee Schneider*, Jr., Custer, S.D.;
Addie Smith*, Jr., Marquette, Neb.;
Nicole Jacobson, Jr., Dakota Dunes, S.D.;
TiaRose Nagami, Sr., Pearl City, Hawaii;
Averey Yaksich, Sr., Omaha, Neb.;
Madison Wassink, Jr., Sioux Falls. S.D.;
Riley Robbe, Jr., Bentonville, Ark.; and
Brooklynne Albrecht, Jr., Kihei, Hawaii.
The Volleyball team has had 79 student-athletes earn academic all-league honors including six in 2012, six in 2013, eight in 2014, eight in 2015, 11 in 2016, eight in 2017, 10 in 2018, six in 2019; seven in 2020 and nine in 2021. Goerger was named Academic All-NSIC for a fourth time while Yaksich and Nagami picked up their third honor. Second-time recipients include Schneider, Jacobson and Wassink. Picking up their first honor was Smith, Robbe and Albrecht. Sixteen USF volleyball student-athletes, which includes three in 2021, have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Goerger earned her fourth and Schneider her second while Smith was honored with her first Academic Team of Excellence honor.
