With eight student-athletes selected to the Southland Conference All-Academic Teams, the Northwestern State track and field teams showed they were just as strong off the court as they are on it.

Six student-athletes on the women’s side and two on the men’s side were named to the academic teams, the conference announced on June 27.

 

Coming off indoor and outdoor team titles, the women had six members of its team honored: pole vaulters Annemarie Broussard and Madison Brown, thrower Kaitlyn Washington and sprinters Sanaria Butler, Maygan Shaw and Vanessa Balde.

 

The six members on the women’s side are the second-most selections, only trailing McNeese’s eight.

On the men’s side, throwers Diamante Gumbs and Tarajh Hudson earned well-deserved spots on the academic team.

 

In their final years, pole vaulters Brown and Broussard went out with a bang.

 

Brown found the podium in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, collecting the bronze in both meets. In the outdoor season, she cleared the best height in the SLC, earning her a trip to the NCAA East Regionals, where she placed 33rd.

 

She did that all while maintaining 3.944 GPA in health and exercise science. It is the third consecutive season Brown earned a spot on the academic team.

 

A fellow pole vaulter, Broussard makes her fourth appearance on the academic team, recording a 3.61 GPA in health and human performance with a sport administration concentration.

 

On the track, she earned the gold medal in the indoor conference meet and silver in the outdoor season, helping lead the NSU women to its first ever outdoor team title.

 

Washington earned a spot at the NCAA East Regionals in the women’s discus, finished 23rd. She finished with the top distance in the event in the conference this season. She also earned points in the hammer throw at the SLC Championships, tossing a 156-8 to place seventh.

 

Off the field, she posted a 3.687 GPA while majoring in biology with a biomedical concentration.

 

Speedsters Butler, Shaw and Balde all earned a spot on the team as well. It is the second appearance on the academic team for Shaw and first for Balde and Butler.

 

The trio were members of both relay teams. The 4×400 team earned Second Team All-American honors and broke the conference and school record four times in 2024 and clinched the NSU women’s first outdoor team title with a victory at the outdoor conference meet.

 

Individually, Shaw earned a spot at the regional finals in the 400-meter dash. As an individual, she collected the silver medal in both the 400-meter dash (52.85) and 200-meter dash (23.67) at the SLC outdoor meet.

 

She posted an impressive season on the track as well as off of it, recording a 3.545 GPA while majoring in nursing.

 

Butler ran a school-record 52.09 in the 400 at the NCAA East Regionals, nearly earning her a second consecutive spot at nationals in the event. She claimed the gold in 400 at the SLC outdoor meet, a well as the silver in both the 200 (23.48) and long jump (19-8.25).

 

In the indoor season, she was named the Women’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year and Most Outstanding Female Field Performer and led the women to its second consecutive indoor title. She also won the Most Outstanding Female Performer at the SLC Championships, scoring 30.5 points.

 

In the classroom, Butler posted a 3.538 GPA while majoring in biology.

 

Balde made the NCAA East Regionals, clocking a wind-legal season-best 13.26 at regionals to advance to the regional finals. At the SLC outdoor meet, she collected a gold in that event and a bronze in the 400, individually.

 

She also collected the 60-meter hurdles gold in the indoor season.

 

Balde is majoring in health and physical education, K-12, compiling a 3.389 GPA.

 

On the men’s side, Gumbs earned a trip to nationals for the first time in the discus, tossing a personal-best 195-2 at the NCAA East Regionals.

 

He found the podium twice at the SLC outdoor meet, earning the gold in the discus (184-7) and silver in the hammer (194-10).

 

Gumbs posted a GPA of 3.263, majoring in general studies.

 

To round it out, Hudson earned a spot on the academic team. For the third consecutive season, Hudson made the trip to the NCAA East Regionals in the discus.

 

He finished fourth in the event at the SLC outdoor meet, tossing a 172-8.

 

Hudson posted a GPA of 3.873, while majoring in health and

exercise science/pre-physical therapy concentration.

The outdoor student-athletes of the year were UIW’s Griffin Neal and McNeese’s Morgan Talley, both of whom scored the most points at the SLC outdoor meet for their gender.

 

Men’s Indoor Student-Athlete of the Year: Slavko Stevic, SLU

Women’s Indoor Student-Athlete of the Year: Nia Clatworthy, Lamar

Men’s Outdoor Student-Athlete of the Year: Griffin Neal, UIW

Women’s Outdoor Student-Athlete of the Year: Morgan Talley, McNeese