Northern Michigan University’s Darby Youngstrom looks for an opening against Saginaw Valley State in a Feb. 7 game at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. This Wildcats team earned Biggest Upset of the 2018-19 season for a victory over No. 4 Ashland in the NCAA Division II regional, while Youngstrom was the team’s honoree for an Elite 20 award. (Journal file photo by Ryan Stieg)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University Athletic Department issued several other awards in addition to those outlined in a recent Mining Journal story.

Lindsay Griffith and the late Todd “Stix” Honch were named NMU Fans of the Year, while Dr. Randy Appleton of the mathematics and computer science department earned Most Influential/Supportive Faculty Member.

Freshman Nordic skier Abigail Jarzin was named Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. Starting the year as the 141st-ranked female and 61st-ranked female junior skier nationally, she worked to become the top-ranked junior skier in the U.S. and was named an All-American at the NCAA Championships.

The women’s basketball team earned Biggest Upset of the season after defeating four-time GLIAC champion and 2016 national champion Ashland in the first round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional. The Eagles were ranked No. 4 in the country at the time of the Wildcats’ 64-57 victory.

The men’s basketball team earned the Team Community Engagement award for helping with the community baby shower sponsored by the Marquette County Health Department.

Elite 20 awards were given to the student-athlete on each team with the highest grade-point average. In case of a tie, the honor went to the athlete with the most credits.

Honored were Troy Summers, men’s basketball; Darby Youngstrom, women’s basketball; Katrina Salmen, cross country; Trevor Roberts, football; Austin Elsner, men’s golf; Karissa Guthrie, women’s golf; Ben Newhouse, hockey; Jessica Close, lacrosse; Xavier Mansfield, men’s Nordic skiing; Sarah Bezdicek, women’s Nordic skiing; Eric Suess, men’s soccer; Anna Worman, women’s soccer; Nathan Rotundo, men’s swimming and diving; Mary Grossman, women’s swimming and diving; Haley Teske, indoor and outdoor track and field; Alyssa Milski, volleyball; Austin Green, Olympic Training Site men’s weightlifting; and Jarynn Steward, OTS women’s weightlifting.

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Wildcats’ teams also handed out their own team awards as follows:

Men’s basketball — MVP, Naba Echols; most improved, Myles Howard; newcomer and scholar-athlete, Troy Summers

Women’s basketball — MVP, Darby Youngstrom; most improved, Amber Huebner; newcomer, Emily Mueller; scholar-athlete, Sydney Dillinger

Cross country — MVP, Sophie McDonald; most improved, Elise Longley; newcomer, Anna Kelley; scholar-athlete, Shayla Huebner

Football — MVP, Jake Mayon; most improved, Brady Hanson; newcomer, Benjamin Loutsis; scholar-athlete, Gaby Baumann and Vince Propson

Men’s golf — MVP, Logan Haight; most improved, Kyle Pouliot; scholar-athlete, Austin Elsner

Women’s golf — MVP, Karissa Guthrie; most improved, Baylee Dunmire; newcomer, Abigail Boozer; scholar-athlete, Haley Hewer

Hockey — MVP, Troy Loggins; most improved, Ryan Black; newcomer, Griffin Loughran; scholar-athlete, Atte Tolvanen

Lacrosse — MVP, Jessie Close and Emily Renfrew; most improved, Katie Zarembski; newcomer, Jessica Daniels; scholar-athlete, Megan Palacio

Men’s Nordic skiing — MVP, Zak Ketterson; most improved, Mathias Aas-Rolid; scholar-athlete, Xavier Mansfield

Women’s Nordic skiing — MVP and newcomer, Abigail Jarzin; most improved, Julie Ensrud; scholar-athlete, Sarah Bezdicek

Men’s soccer — MVP, Kevin Hoof and Sam Popp; most improved, Arni Eiriksson; newcomer, Kaffie Kurz; scholar-athlete, Eric Suess

Women’s soccer — MVP, Sophia Sachs and Caroline Halonen; most improved, Emma Vermette; newcomer, Halonen; scholar-athlete, Anna Worman

Men’s swimming and diving — MVP, Renars Bundzis; most improved, Benjamin Lindberg; newcomer, Jon Busse; scholar-athlete, Nathan Rotundo

Women’s swimming and diving — MVP, Rachel Helm; most improved, Briana Arnold; newcomer, Mary Grossman; scholar-athlete, Jamie Kimble

Track and field — MVP, Michelle Juergen; most improved, Izabelle Peterson; newcomer, Hannah Jones; scholar-athlete, Shayla Huebner

Volleyball — MVP, Sarah Kuehn; most improved, Maggie Liebeck; newcomer, Alli Yacko; scholar-athlete, Kaila Mathews

OTS men’s weightlifting — MVP, Bret Pfeiffer; most improved, Bradley Kozbiel; newcomer, Calvin La; scholar-athlete, Austin Gean

OTS women’s weightlifting — MVP and newcomer, Destiny Young; most improved, Hannah Hopkins; scholar-athlete, Jarynn Steward

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.