Feb. 9—Northwestern College contributed 46 student-athletes to the overall Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) record number of 359 fall individual academic all-conference awards that were distributed recently. To be recognized as a UMAC Academic All-Conference honoree, student-athletes must post a 3.5 or better semester grade point average based on a 4.0 scale.

The Eagles women’s golf team claimed the team academic all-conference award for their sport, combining for an average fall semester GPA of 3.486. Of Northwestern’s 46 individual awards, the women’s cross country team claimed 10 while the volleyball and women’s soccer teams each had eight representatives. The NWC football team had eight academic all-conference award recipients.

Among the 13 UMAC member-institutions (eight full, five associate), the College of St. Scholastica boasted a conference-best 74 individual awards, while Martin Luther College took second with 53 honors. Following Northwestern’s 46 accolades, the University of Minnesota, Morris followed with 44 while Crown College rounded out the top five schools with 35.

In the team competition, Martin Luther claimed the best grade point averages in three fall sports including football, men’s soccer and volleyball. Crown, North Central University, Northwestern, Presentation College and Minnesota, Morris each took one of the team sport competitions. The UMAC’s 359 academic all-conference awards from 2010 are four better than last year’s 355, which was a new record in itself at the time after welcoming four new football associate members. 2007 and 2008 were also record years for the volume of conference individual academic accomplishments.

Northwestern’s UMAC Individual Academic All-Conference awards from the fall 2010 semester are: