These second annual awards were presented by NMU athletics and originally announced on its website and social media accounts.

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Team of the Year — NMU volleyball earned this Wildcat Award for the 2020-21 school year after the biggest highlight of their season was capturing both the GLIAC regular season and tournament championships.

It was the 11th regular season championship and fifth GLIAC tournament title in program history. It was also the Wildcats’ first titles since 2003, when that team swept both crowns, too.

Northern Michigan University's Katelyn Mongold, right, watches as her shot bounces past Grand Valley State goalie Abigail Dengler and into the net during the first half of their GLIAC lacrosse game played April 18 at the Superior Dome in Marquette. (Journal file photo)

Jacqueline Smith was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, while head coach Mike Lozier took home the GLIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year honor. Smith, sophomore Lauren Van Remortel and freshman Meghan Meyer all made the league First Team. The three student-athletes named to the First team are the most for NMU since 1998.

In addition, junior Lizzy Stark made the All-GLIAC Second Team while fellow junior Alli Yacko was honorable mention. The five all-conference team members tie a team-high mark set in 2003.

From Feb. 20 through the end of March, the Wildcats won 11 straight matches, four of them 3-0 shutouts. NMU concluded the campaign with a 15-2 overall record and 12-2 conference mark.

The Wildcats finished the year ranked No. 18 in the NCAA Division II Coaches Top 25 women’s poll conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

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Northern Michigan University's Joseph Nardi gets ready for a faceoff against Bemidji State in the third period of their WCHA hockey game on Feb. 15, 2020, at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Gildo Canale Outstanding Seniors Award — Caro Els’ career made an indelible mark on the women’s golf program, earning her the female 2020-21 Gildo Canale Outstanding Senior Award.

An NMU golfer for five years hailing from the African country of Namibia, she qualified for the NCAA East Regional all four years it was offered during her college career. In 2019, Els made the NCAA national championship tournament representing the Wildcats. The senior was named to the All-GLIAC First Team this year for the second time to go with her 2018-19 selection. Els was named to the all-conference Second Team in 2017-18 and 2019-20.

She holds three program records with an 18-hole score of 69, 222 over 54 holes, and a 76.87 stroke average over an entire season in 2016-17.

Zak Ketterson of Northern’s Nordic ski team was named the male Gildo Canale Outstanding Senior Award winner after his impressive career.

He joined the team as a freshman in 2016-17, collecting three All-American honors during his tenure as a Wildcat after he qualified for four NCAA national championships.

Northern Michigan University senior golfer Caro Els hits a shot during the spring season for the Wildcats. She finished her season at the NCAA Division II East Regional in Carmel, Ind., during the week of May 3-7. (NMU photo)

Ketterson had the top NCAA finish of his career this season with a fourth-place finish in the 20-kilometer freestyle. He has also qualified for the World Junior Under-23 World Championships three times.

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Athletes of the Year — Joseph Nardi, a senior forward, was named male Athlete of the Year following an impressive season when he served as a center and captain of the NMU hockey team. That included guiding the Wildcats to a berth in the 2021 WCHA championship game.

Nardi led the team in points last season with 33 off of 12 goals and 21 assists, coming just shy of reaching the century mark with 99 career points.

As a senior, he led the NCAA in faceoff wins, notching 396 draws in 29 games played. In four years with the Wildcats, Nardi never missed a game, skating in 149 career contests. As a senior, Nardi was named a Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee while earning a berth on the All-WCHA Second Team.

Zak Ketterson

Female Athlete of the Year Caroline Halonen led the Northern women’s soccer team in almost every statistical category in 2020-21.

That included ranking No. 1 in goals with 11, points with 23, shots with 62, shots on goal with 25 and game-winning goals with three. One of the game winners came in the GLIAC Tournament semifinal against Ashland, which landed NMU in its first GLIAC Tournament championship game in program history.

The junior from downstate Hartland also made noise nationally, finding herself ranked second in NCAA Division II in total goals with 11, fourth in total points with 23 and seventh in goals per game at 1.00.

Halonen also collected some hardware as she was named a GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week in April and the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year, along with a spot on the All-GLIAC First Team for the conference tournament.

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Makaylee Kuhn

Breakthrough Athletes of the Year — Makaylee Kuhn, the female Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, made her presence known on the basketball court, leading the Wildcats in points and finishing fourth in the conference with 368.

Included in that total for the Hilbert, Wisconsin, native was a career-high 39-point night in a game against Purdue Northwest. That performance tied for the fifth best in all of NCAA Division II during the 2020-21 season. She also hit 16 free throws in that game, the second most in D-II. Just a sophomore, Kuhn was named to the All-GLIAC First Team.

Alex Weaver was a force in the net for men’s soccer in 2020-21. This year’s male Breakthrough Athlete of the Year played every minute as a goalkeeper for the Wildcats as he finished with 37 saves.

The sophomore had three shutouts, second best in the GLIAC, which came in consecutive weeks during a four-game winning streak for NMU. Weaver ended with a 4-3-1 record and a fourth best in the GLIAC save percentage of 75.5. He was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention team.

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Best Play of the Year — The Wildcats’ lacrosse team earned the Best Play award with a program first — at the end of regulation against GLIAC foe Concordia-St. Paul, the score was tied 15-15 at the Superior Dome.

After 3 1/2 minutes of overtime, a CSP player committed a foul to set up a free position shot for NMU. Freshman Katelyn Mongold delivered the shot into the back of the net, her first and only shot of the game, to give the Wildcats a 16-15 OT victory. It was the first victory over the Golden Bears in program history.

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