NSIC RELEASE
BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Thursday that Augustana's
Matt Braithwaite is the 2011 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence. The award, in its 27th year, recognizes the conference's top male student-athlete.
A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Braithwaite is a senior majoring in biology. The Lincoln High School graduate holds a 4.0 grade point average and is a member of the Augustana cross country and track and field teams.
Braithwaite is a 2011 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winner and was the 2010 NCAA Elite 88 winner at the Division II Men's Cross Country Championship, the first Viking in school history to earn the award. The Elite 88 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 88 championships.
Braithwaite was also a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team member and earned Academic All-NSIC honors this past season. He was also presented with the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award from the NSIC this spring.
On campus, Braithwaite was an NSIC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Representative, worked at a local soup kitchen, raised money for Make-A-Wish and assisted with youth sports camps.
In cross country this past season, Braithwaite was an All-America recipient after finishing 20th at the NCAA Championship and guiding his team to a sixth-place finish. He was also an All-NSIC first team honoree his junior and senior years and a second-team selection as a sophomore.
Braithwaite completed a prestigious research fellowship working in a Boston lab at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Recently, Braithwaite gained acceptance to the University of South Dakota Medical School.
In addition to his athletic, academic, and volunteer activities, Braithwaite also participated in Augustana's Collegiate Choral. This choir required rehearsal three times a week in addition to public performance dates.
Braithwaite is the first student-athlete from Augustana to earn the Britton Award.
The Britton Award was created in 1985 in honor of Dr. William Britton, a longtime faculty representative at Bemidji State. The member institutions of the NSIC nominate one male student-athlete for award. The nominees must meet the following criteria: a grade-point average of 3.20 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's faculty athletic representatives.
Braithwaite will be recognized July 13 at the 2011 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Best Western Kelly Inn and Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minn. He will also receive a $2,500 post-graduate scholarship.
