CLEVELAND, Ohio --- The Division 2 Athletics Directors Association announced the 2019-20 recipients of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards recently where 54 South Dakota Mines scholar-athletes received the honor.

The Academic Achievement Awards --- in its 13^th year --- is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the NCAA Div. II level.

"This is a great honor for our Hardrocker scholar-athletes," said South Dakota Mines Athletic Director Joel Lueken. "Being a NCAA Div. II athlete at our institution can be a challenge. It's remarkable that they are able to excel at the academic level with the rigors of being a Div. II athlete."

In order to receive the Academic Achievement Award, an athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work, and have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year.

In total, there were 15,226 student-athletes from 200 institutions recognized for the 2019-20 Academic Achievement Awards. These numbers shattered the records for highest number of participating institutions.

"In a year when we can use all of the good news, the D2 ADA Officers and Board of Directors are proud to recognize the highest number of student-athletes with the Academic Achievement Award than ever before," said D2 ADA President JR Smith, director of athletics at Chadron State College. "The nominations also came from a record number of institutions, showcasing the passion and dedication of our Association and Division II as a whole."

About D2 ADA: The D2 ADA is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of Division II athletics directors. For more information about the D2 ADA, please visit www.div2ada.com. The D2 ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 55th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.
 

First Name	Last Name	Sport	Academic Year Completed
Troy	Brady	Men's Basketball	JR
Logan	Elers	Men's Basketball	SR
Jackson	Fiddler	Men's Basketball	SR
Damani	Hayes	Men's Basketball	SO
Mitchell	Sueker	Men's Basketball	JR
Tristian	Von Nieda	Men's Basketball	SR
Francesca	Facchini	Women's Basketball	SR
Anna	Haugen	Women's Basketball	SR
Melissa	Johnstone	Women's Basketball	SO
Samantha	Steffeck	Women's Basketball	SR
Ryan	Weiss	Women's Basketball	JR
Shyann	Bastian	Women's Volleyball	SO
Emma	Murphy	Women's Volleyball	SO
Hannah	Stevenson	Women's Volleyball	SR
Dana	Thomson	Women's Volleyball	SO
Lane	Jensen	Men's Golf	SO
Alex	Lesselyoung	Men's Golf	SO
Carson	McDaniel	Men's Golf	SO
Larissa	Pawloski	Women's Golf	JR
Alexandra	Rauert	Women's Golf	SO
Justin	Barkow	Men's Soccer	SR
Bradley	Day	Men's Soccer	SR
Brennan	Lamoreaux	Men's Soccer	JR
Spencer	Lund	Men's Soccer	SR
Tyler	Ring	Men's Soccer	JR
Owen	Winger	Men's Soccer	SR
Taylor	Bright	Women's Track & Field	SR
Kayla	Gagen	Women's Track & Field	SR
Erica	Keeble	Women's Track & Field	JR
Margaret	Thompson	Women's Track & Field	SO
Conner	Christenson	Men's Track & Field	SO
Ben	Colvin	Men's Track & Field	JR
Korder	Cropsey	Men's Track & Field	SR
Joel	Haas	Men's Track & Field	JR
Austin	Hammer	Men's Track & Field	SR
Travis	Kleinsasser	Men's Track & Field	SO
Ryan	Moen	Men's Track & Field	SO
Darren	Nissen	Men's Track & Field	SR
Kevin	Ptak	Men's Track & Field	SR
Joseph	Alber	Football	SO
McCoy	Bila	Football	SO
Mitchell	Black	Football	SO
Rhett	Buttleman	Football	SO
Chandler	Callejo	Football	SO
Thomas	Creese	Football	JR
Zach	Hoopman	Football	JR
Joe	Luebbers	Football	JR
Ira	Murphey	Football	JR
Cole	Peterson	Football	SO
Jarod	Svensson	Football	SO
Jacob	West	Football	JR
Nick	Zell	Football	JR
Collin	Zur	Football	JR
Spencer	Zur	Football	JR