6-dozen strong: GLIAC honors 72 Northern Michigan University athletes, several other area athletes for academics
Northern Michigan University freshman Crystal Walker, front, competes in a hurdles event at Grand Valley State in Allendale in the spring of 2022. (Photo courtesy NMU)
MARQUETTE — Not that anyone suspected it wasn’t, but academics are alive, well and thriving on the GLIAC-affiliated sports teams at Northern Michigan University.
Six dozen Wildcats student-athletes in winter semester sports that compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference were honored by the league recently.
They cover seven sports teams. It’s actually five sports with direct GLIAC affiliation — women’s basketball, men’s basketball, women’s swimming and diving, men’s swimming and diving and women’s indoor track and field.
The other two sports are women’s nordic skiing and men’s nordic skiing, which were listed by the GLIAC as “at large” for sports that have outside affiliations. Other sports in that category included women’s fencing, men’s fencing and men’s wrestling.
NMU winter sports that weren’t listed on the at-large tabulation include men’s hockey, women’s freestyle wrestling, men’s Greco-Roman wrestling, women’s and men’s alpine skiing, women’s and men’s weightlifting, and esports.
Northern Michigan University's Makaylee Kuhn dribbles the ball up court in the third quarter against Northwood in their GLIAC basketball game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Jan. 29, 2022. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)
The men’s hockey league, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, is expected to issue its own all-league academic honors in the upcoming weeks.
The GLIAC breaks down its academic awards into two categories, Academic Excellence and All-Academic.
For both, an athlete must be on their sport’s active roster at the conclusion of the season and can’t be a freshman or first-year transfer student-athlete, though redshirt freshmen are eligible.
Academic Excellence is reserved for those with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher, while All-Academic is for students with GPAs of at least 3.0 but below 3.5.
Northern had 53 student-athletes selected to the Academic Excellence Team and 19 to All-Academic for the winter semester.
Northern MIchigan University's Max Bjorklund dribbles around a defender during a Wildcats' game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy NMU)
Women’s swimming and diving had the most NMU athletes honored with 19, including 15 for Academic Excellence and four for All-Academic.
Other sports, with their total honored, Academic Excellence honorees and All-Academic honorees, include women’s indoor track and field, 13, 10, 3; men’s swimming and diving, 13, 7, 6; women’s basketball, 10, 9, 1; men’s basketball, 8, 4, 4; women’s nordic skiing, 6, 6, 0; and men’s nordic skiing, 3, 2, 1.
Differences in numbers of athletes honored in each sport likely have much to do with the variation in the number of athletes on each team. For example, there are 28 athletes listed on the NMU women’s swimming roster, but only seven on the Northern men’s nordic ski team.
For the entire GLIAC, 679 student-athletes were listed for academic recognition — 424 on Academic Excellence and 255 on All-Academic.
They include all the sports that NMU sponsors, plus men’s indoor track and field and the other “at-large” sports not with direct GLIAC affiliation that were listed earlier.
The entire league release is available at https://www.gliac.org/general_news/2022-23/2022-23_Winter_Academics.
Several area students who are residents of the area and attend other GLIAC institutions were also found on this list by going through the hometowns of all 679 listed.
The Academic Excellence list includes Kayla Muth of Manistique, a sophomore women’s indoor track and field athlete at Ferris State with a 3.71 GPA majoring in biology-pre-optometry.
The All-Academic list includes Marius Grazulis of Marquette, a senior men’s basketball player at Grand Valley State with a 3.40 GPA majoring in multimedia journalism and sport management; Jason Waterman of Negaunee, a sophomore men’s basketball player at Michigan Tech with a 3.10 GPA majoring in forestry; and Tessa Leece of Westwood, a sophomore women’s basketball player at MTU with a 3.13 GPA majoring in human biology.
Here is the entire list of NMU award winners by sport, listed with each athlete and their year in school, major, GPA and hometown:
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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Men’s basketball — Jackson Dudek, redshirt fresh., undeclared, 3.86, Kimberly, Wis.; Kam Karp, redshirt fresh., undeclared, 3.90, Marquette; Sam Privet, redshirt fresh., undeclared, 3.91, Caledonia, Minn.; Carson Smith, soph., financial management, 3.70, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Women’s basketball — Elena Alaix, sr., physics, 3.73, Madrid, Spain; Mackenzie Holzwart, soph., sports science, 3.72, Howards Grove, Wis.; Makaylee Kuhn, jr., environmental studies, 4.00, Hilbert, Wis.; Alyssa Nimz, soph., public relations, 3.82, Pewaukee, Wis.; Andrea Perez, jr., accounting, 3.76, Madrid, Spain; Ana Rhude, soph., nursing, 3.76, Colgate, Wis.; CJ Romero, soph., business, 3.84, Brookfield, Wis.; Taya Stevenson, soph., sports science, 3.93, Tasmania, Australia; Kayla Tierney, soph., applied exercise science, 3.78, South Milwaukee, Wis.
Men’s swimming and diving — Patrick Andrews, soph., sport science, 3.90, Springfield, Va.; Thibault Auger, soph., pre-business, 3.80, Nice, France; Niels Callewaert, soph., art & design, 3.54, Berchem, Belgium; Roberto Camera, jr., environmental science, 3.51, Rozzano, Italy; Dean Ramsbottom, soph., information assurance cyber defense, 3.72, Oswego, Ill.; James Werwie, soph., business, 3.57, Sun Prairie, Wis.; Ondrej Zach, sr., physical education-coaching, 3.63, Rudolfov, Czech Republic
Women’s swimming and diving — Maria Arakelian, jr., accounting, 3.83, Livonia; Becca Burrows, soph., undeclared, 3.90, Grand Rapids; Camilla Carbone, soph., marketing, 3.97, Rovellasca, Italy; Zoe DeKievit, soph., health and fitness education, 4.00, Holland; Francesca Gastrow, jr., mathematics, 3.77, Hartland, Wis.; Donna Hannig, soph., pre-med, 3.90, Salzgitter, Germany; Abbie Harned, soph., nursing, 3.83, Auburn; Ella Houwers, soph., psychology, 3.69, Whitewater, Wis.; Jenna Joerger, jr., nursing, 3.54, Eagan, Minn.; Emilia Morris, soph., marketing, 3.68, Williamston; Michaela Nelson, jr., biology, 3.65, Sun Prairie, Wis.; Pilar Perello Ferrer, jr., marketing, 3.57, Inca, Spain; Vanessa Steigauf, soph., neuroscience, 3.96, Singen, Germany; Mia Strazny, soph., pre-medicine-biochemistry, 4.00, Manitowoc, Wis.; Erin VanderSchaaf, soph., pre-med, 3.93, Marquette
Women’s indoor track and field — Skylar Grubb, soph., zoology, 3.75, Highland; Meghan Langworthy, jr., sports science, 3.79, Big Rapids; Ahna Larson, soph., biology, 3.81, Gladstone; Lily Majestic, soph., biochemistry, 3.63, Swartz Creek; Roman Menhart, sr., forensic biochemistry, 3.90, Blaney Park; Sydney Romps, soph., biology, 3.97, Canton; Leah Root, soph., special education, 3.76, Haslett; Jacqueline Smith, soph., special education, 3.92, Saint Germain, Wis.; Emily Sterling, jr., forensic biochemistry, 3.70, Boyne City; Ellyse Wolfrath, soph., nursing, 3.81, Hortonville, Wis.
Men’s nordic skiing — Matt Bourne, jr., electrical engineering, 3.75, Lake Elmo, Minn.; Kristoffer Karsrud, soph, undeclared, 3.72, Raufoss, Norway
Women’s nordic skiing — Gretchen Haggenmiller, soph., chemistry, 4.00, Duluth, Minn.; Pearl Harvey, soph. (major not listed), 3.65, Heber, Utah; Katerina Hyncicova, graduate student, marketing, 3.67, Liberec, Czech Republic; Lauren McCollor, soph., (major not listed), 3.60, Plymouth, Minn.; Molly Miller, jr., social work, 3.98, Kimberley, British Columbia; Merle Richter, soph., (major not listed), 3.74, Sayda, Germany
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- Northern Michigan University freshman Crystal Walker, front, competes in a hurdles event at Grand Valley State in Allendale in the spring of 2022. (Photo courtesy NMU)
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- Northern Michigan University’s Makaylee Kuhn dribbles the ball up court in the third quarter against Northwood in their GLIAC basketball game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Jan. 29, 2022. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)
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- Northern MIchigan University’s Max Bjorklund dribbles around a defender during a Wildcats’ game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy NMU)
Men’s basketball — Max Bjorklund, sr., web and mobile app development, 3.23, Orono, Minn.; Dylan Kuehl, redshirt fresh., construction management, 3.34, Iron Ridge, Wis.; Connor McCance, jr., accounting, 3.24, Montgomery, Ill.; Brian Parzych, soph., pre-business, 3.41, Milwaukee
Women’s basketball — Vivianne Jende, soph., marketing, 3.46, Waukesha, Wis.
Men’s swimming and diving — Grant Combs, sr., computer science, 3.17, Clinton Township; Erikas Kapocius, jr., pre-business, 3.34, Ignalina, Lithuania; Daniel Lopez Aponte, soph., (major not listed), 3.01, (hometown not listed); Ryan Lund, soph., biology, 3.16, Excelsior, Minn.; Luke Pettinger, soph., construction management, 3.28, Cottrellville; Jasper Pullinen, soph., financial management, 3.37, Riihimaki, Finland
Women’s swimming and diving — Meritxell Font Cantarero, jr., psychology, 3.36, Girona, Spain; Izzy McCabe, soph., sports science, 3.03, Plymouth, Wis.; Lauren Melendez-Rivero, jr., biology, 3.1, El Paso, Tex.; Faith Sill, soph., pre-med-biology, 3.47, Beloit, Wis.
Women’s indoor track and field — Emme Burrough, soph., political science, 3.21, Milan; Mari McClure, jr., biology, 3.33, Lake City; Crystal Walker, soph., business analytics, 3.25, Portmore, Jamaica
Men’s nordic skiing — Cooper Lennox, soph., pre-business, 3.43, Mora, Minn.
Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.