Full listing of NSU student-athletes attached as is a photo from the Spring 2021 Student-Athlete Stoll Ceremony. Photo credit: Chris Reich/NSU Photographic Services
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced changes upon Northwestern State student-athletes, it did not stop their classroom success.
203 of its student-athletes honored on the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll – normally a biannual list that was combined to a one-time announcement because of the shifting 2020-21 athletic calendar.
Jalen Garrison and Reagan Lee, both of Ruston, were among those to appear on the list. Jalen is a sophomore on the Football Team who’s majoring in History with a 3.67 GPA. Reagan is a sophomore volleyball player majoring in social work with a 3.0 GPA.
Northwestern State’s total made it one of seven SLC schools to place 200 or more student-athletes on the list, led by Central Arkansas’ 251. To be eligible for the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, student-athletes must maintain a 3.0 grade point average during the semester of competition.
Despite competing in an unfamiliar time frame, Northwestern State fall sports student-athletes saw a higher percentage of their competitors reach the honor roll threshold as 58.1 percent posted at least a 3.0 GPA compared to 55.2 percent in the Fall 2019 semester.
All 13 Northwestern State volleyball players were named to the honor roll, helping the program notch a 9.3 percent gain in awardees.
The Lady Demon tennis team was a perfect 8-for-8 for the second straight season while women’s basketball (13.3 percent), men’s basketball (10 percent), soccer (4.3 percent) and football (3.8) also saw their overall percentage of student-athletes honored grow from the previous academic year.
