Angelo State’s Kami Norton and West Texas A&M’s Owen Hind were named Lone Star Conference Academic Athletes of the Year on Wednesday when league officials announced the LSC’s annual academic awards for men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
Norton earned the women’s highest academic honor for the second straight year, while Hind earned the men’s top honor.
The Rambelles Norton led a group of 11 track and field stars on the LSC Women’s All-Academic Team, while the Buffs Hind headlined 11 standouts on the LSC Men’s All-Academic Team.
Norton, a senior kinesiology major from Albany, Texas, picked up her fourth career academic honor after earning indoor track and field distinction the past two years as well. She is ranked in the top 12 nationally in four events including the 100-meter hurdles (No. 12), 400-meter hurdles (No. 6), long jump (No. 6) and the heptathlon (No. 3).
A graduate student working on his MBA, Hind claimed his second academic honor this year. The London, England, native was named Academic Runner of the Year in cross country. He leads the LSC in the 5,000m with a WT record time of 14:14.48 which ranks 17th in Division II.
To be eligible for LSC academic honors, student-athletes must carry at least a 3.30 grade point average and have reached sophomore status both athletically and academically. The Academic Player of Year award and All-Academic Team are selected from the list of academically qualified players, with the league’s sports information directors voting based on both academic and athletic achievement.
Joining Norton on the women’s side was teammate Jordan Nash; Tarleton State’s Gretzel Jimenez; Midwestern State’s Mercy Yermo; WT’s Nele Heinrich, Fatim Affessi and Madison Thetford; Eastern New Mexico’s Danee Bustos and Coley Norcross; Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Madeleine Maltais; and Lubbock Christian’s Amira Cunningham.
Norton and Norcross claimed a spot on the all-academic team for the second consecutive year.
On the men’s all-academic team with Hind was teammate Nicholas Dow; ASU’s Harry Maslen, Jacob Reid, Levi Britting and Chevy Robertson; Texas A&M-Commerce’s Florian Obst and Dylan Henderson; ENMU’s Ezra Bagwell; LCU’s Jacob Nava; and TSU’s Jarred Elizondo.
Bagwell was repeat selections.
Overall, 22 men and women were selected to the All-Academic teams.
2018 LSC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ALL-ACADEMIC AWARDS
MEN’S ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
| Player |
Team |
Yr. |
Major |
Hometown |
| Owen Hind |
West Texas A&M |
Grad |
MBA |
London, England |
| Harry Maslen |
Angelo State |
Jr. |
Chemistry |
Ilkley, West Yorkshire |
| Florian Obst |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
Sr. |
MBA |
Emmering, Germany |
| Ezra Bagwell |
Eastern New Mexico |
Jr. |
Electronics Eng. Tech. |
Clayton, New Mexico |
| Dylan Henderson |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
So. |
Kinesiology/Sports Studies |
Duncanville, Texas |
| Jacob Reid |
Angelo State |
Jr. |
Exercise Science |
Wall, Texas |
| Levi Britting |
Angelo State |
So. |
Biology |
Albany, Texas |
| Chevy Robertson |
Angelo State |
So. |
Physics |
Brownwood, Texas |
| Nicholas Dow |
West Texas A&M |
Jr. |
Finance |
Amarillo, Texas |
| Jacob Nava |
Lubbock Christian |
So. |
Finance |
Abilene, Texas |
| Jarred Elizondo |
Tarleton State |
So. |
Engineering |
Bandera, Texas |
LSC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Academic Player of the Year: Owen Hind, West Texas A&M
WOMEN’S ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
| Player |
Team |
Yr. |
Major |
Hometown |
| Kami Norton |
Angelo State |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
Albany, Texas |
| Gretzel Jimenez |
Tarleton State |
So. |
Physical Therapy |
China Spring, Texas |
| Mercy Yermo |
Midwestern State |
So. |
Exercise Physiology |
Bandera, Texas |
| Jordan Nash |
Angelo State |
Jr. |
English Secondary Cert |
Grandview, Texas |
| Nele Heinrich |
West Texas A&M |
So. |
General Business |
Guben, Germany |
| Danee Bustos |
Eastern New Mexico |
Jr. |
Communicative Disorders |
Belen, New Mexico |
| Fatim Affessi |
West Texas A&M |
So. |
Psychology |
Geneva, Switzerland |
| Madison Thetford |
West Texas A&M |
So. |
Marketing |
Amarillo, Texas |
| Madeleine Maltais |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
So. |
Civil Engineering |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Coley Norcross |
Eastern New Mexico |
Sr. |
Elementary/Special Educ |
Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Amira Cunningham |
Lubbock Christian |
Jr. |
Exercise Science/Spanish |
Sandia Park, New Mexico |
LSC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Academic Player of the Year: Kami Norton, Angelo State