Burnsville, Minn. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) has announced Winona State’s Alex Coulter as the 2013 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award winner and Concordia University, St. Paul’s Elizabeth Duffy as the 2013 Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.  The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 29th year, recognizes the NSIC’s top male student-athlete, while the Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award, in its 28th year, is presented to the NSIC’s top female student-athlete.

The Britton Award was created in 1985 in honor of Dr. William Britton, a longtime faculty representative at Bemidji State University. The Kelly Award is named in honor of Willis R. Kelly, an associate professor of physical education at the University of Minnesota, Morris. A member of the NSIC Hall of Fame, Kelly also coordinated the Minnesota-Morris Physical Education Department from 1970-87. She became the first director of women’s intercollegiate athletics at Minnesota-Morris in 1976 and was later promoted to athletic director for the whole department. Kelly passed away in 1988.

The member institutions of the NSIC nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the Britton and Kelly Awards. The nominees must meet the following criteria: a grade point average of 3.5 or better (on a 4.0 scale); evidence of academic excellence beyond the minimum grade point average (scholarship prizes and other academic recognition), evidence of participation in the life of the institution, and evidence of participation in at least two-thirds of the varsity events of the individual’s primary sport. The award is voted on by the NSIC Faculty Athletic Representatives.

The 30 student-athletes nominated for the NSIC’s two most prestigious awards will also be honored as NSIC Male and Female Honor Student-Athletes of the Year at their respective institutions. Coulter and Duffy will be recognized Wednesday, July 10 at the 2013 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Best Western Kelly Inn and Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Coulter and Duffy will each receive a $2,500 post-graduate scholarship.

Alex Coulter, a native of St. Cloud, Minn., is a senior majoring in business and finance while minoring in economics at Winona State University. The St. Cloud Tech High School graduate held a 3.96 GPA while playing linebacker for the Warrior Football team over the past four years. Coulter is the fifth student-athlete from Winona State University to earn the Britton Award joining Marcus Greatens (2010), Nate Gruber (1995), Jeff Engbrecht (1994) and James Scott Bestul (1985). 

Coulter was named to the Capital One Academic All-America second team last year. He also earned the NSIC Myles Brand Award this past spring, was a four-time NSIC All-Academic Team member and was Dean’s List honoree every semester. He also was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and was a Scholar Athlete Winona State.

On campus Coulter volunteered with the Warriors to Readers program, assisting children to develop their reading and math skills while being a role model for those students.   Coulter also donated his time to raking resident years and to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) events. 

On the gridiron, Coulter started all 12 games at linebacker during his senior season, racking up 37 tackles and a pair of interceptions.  A team captain, he added four sacks and five tackles for loss as the Warriors went 10-2 and won the Mineral Water Bowl.  For his career he amassed 146 tackles, six sacks and three interceptions.

In his spare time, Coulter is a member of the Leadership Council for football and is an active SAAC member.  He is a 2012 NCAA Post-Season Graduate Scholarship Nominee and Finalist.  He will be pursuing a career in the financial industry and will look to earn his MBA in the future.

2013 Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence
Elizabeth Duffy, Concordia University, St. Paul - Volleyball

Elizabeth (Ellie) Duffy, a native of Fridley, Minn., is a senior majoring in math and biology at Concordia University, St. Paul. The Totino Grace High School graduate holds a 3.96 grade point average while playing volleyball for the Golden Bears. She joins Mary Slinger (2009) as the only student-athlete from Concordia University to earn the Kelly Award.

Duffy earned Capital One Academic All-American First Team honors in 2012 as the Golden Bears won its sixth consecutive NCAA DII Volleyball Championships.  Duffy has made the Dean’s List every semester and earned NSIC All-Academic four-times.  She also received the NSIC Myles Brand Award this past spring and was named an NSIC Honor Student-Athlete last year.  Duffy is also a NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship Award winner and won the DII Conference Commissioner Association Academic Achievement Award in 2011.

Duffy has been involved in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since her freshman year and has served as Committee President for the last two years. As part of SAAC, she has participated in two NSIC SAAC Summits, volunteered at the Children’s Hospital, participated in reverse trick-or-treating to collect food for local food shelves, and helped organize several breast cancer awareness events and Make-A-Wish fundraisers. Duffy has also been a part of the Tri-Pi Math Club since her freshman year, served as a Board Member for the 2010-2011 school year and President for the 2011-2012 school year. As part of the Math Club, she helped organize and run two of the largest yearly campus events, the Homecoming Dodgeball Tournament and Game Night, as well as helping to run Math Day, a yearly math competition for local high school students. Duffy has also been active in the Concordia University Science Club since her freshman year. She was the Club’s Activities Chair (2010-2011) and was the Club Treasurer (2011- fall 2012). As part of the Science Club, Ellie helped organize a campus Be the Match bone marrow drive, participated in several Feed My Starving Children service trips, helped organize Science Olympics, a science competition for local high school students, and volunteered in the Chemistry in the Library program performing science experiments with local youth. In 2009 she participated in a ten day CU mission trip to Guatemala. Duffy has been a Teacher’s Assistant in the Math Department for the past three school years and in the Chemistry Department during the last year. She has presented biology and chemistry research projects at the Concordia Research Symposium and also presented research at the State Capitol in 2011 as part of the Private Scholars at the Capitol event.

On the court, Duffy was a member of the volleyball team and has won five National Championships. She was an All-Tournament Team Member in both the Regional and National Tournaments in 2008. In her final season as a Golden Bear, Ellie led her team in kills and was named NSIC First Team All-Conference, AVCA All-Region, Daktronics All-Central Region Team, and AVCA All-American Second Team. She was also a member of the 2012 NSIC, NCAA Central Region and Elite 8 All-Tournament Teams. After several injuries (and a redshirt season in 2010), Duffy finished her career playing in 123 matches for the Golden Bears, recording 1084 kills, 113 aces, 480 digs, and 142 blocks while serving as team captain for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons.

Outside of the time Duffy has spent volunteering as part of campus activities, she has also been active in the community during her free time. She is a volunteer at Amplatz Children’s Hospital in the foreign adoption clinic, has volunteered at Salem Evangelical Church helping with childcare and volunteers at Immaculate Conception School (her former grade school) serving lunch. Ellie plans to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota to receive a Masters degree in Biostatistics.

2012-13 NSIC Men’s Honor Student-Athlete Award Winners

Brett Anderson	Augustana College	Senior	Track & Field / BB	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Lincoln HS
Brian Leonhardt	Bemidji State University	Senior	Football	Blaine, Minn.	Spring Lake Park HS
Thomas Flack	Concordia University, St. Paul	Senior	Football	Savage, Minn.	Burnsville Senior HS
Brady Anderson	University of Mary	Senior	Wrestling	Hamilton, Mont.	Hamilton HS
Almir Krdzalic	University of Minnesota Crookston	Senior	Basketball	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Sioux Falls HS
Cameron Harper	University of Minnesota Duluth	Senior	Football	Blaine, Minn.	Spring Lake Park HS
Grant Luer	Minnesota State University, Mankato	Senior	Track & Field	Menomonie, Wis,	Menomonie HS
Alex Novak	Minnesota State University Moorhead	Senior	Basketball	Oxford, Iowa	Clear-Creek-Amana HS
Brandon Velasquez	Minot State University	Senior	Track & Field /CC	Chula Vista, Calif.	Otay Ranch HS
Luke Hauert	Northern State University	Senior	Track & Field	Stickney, S.D.	Stickney HS
Nick Smith	Southwest Minnesota State University	Junior	Basketball	Johnston, Iowa	Johnston HS
Phil Imholte	St. Cloud State University	Senior	Baseball	St. Cloud, Minn.	St. Cloud Cathedral HS
Mitchell Schultz	Upper Iowa University	Senior	Wrestling	Postville, Iowa	Postville HS
C.J. Nolen	Wayne State College	Senior	Baseball	Sioux City, Iowa	Sioux City West HS
Alex Coulter	Winona State University	Senior	Football	St. Cloud, Minn.	St. Cloud Tech HS

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