BURNSVILLE, Minn. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) announced that Augustana's Kirby Hora is named the 2019 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award winner for academic excellence. Hora is honored to receive the most prestigious award in the NSIC.

"I am humbled and honored to represent Augustana University as this years Britton award winner," Hora said. "Undoubtedly, the support from my family, teammates, coaches, and the academic faculty deserve this award even more than me."

Augustana's Leah Seivert, who won the Elite 18 award in cross country earlier this season, was also named the 2018-19 NSIC Women's Honor Student-Athlete Award Winner for the Vikings.
 
A four-year student-athlete on the Vikings football team, Hora recently graduated with a 4.0 GPA and a biology degree. Hora plans on continuing his education in Vermillion, South Dakota as he was recently accepted into the University of South Dakota Medical School.

Hora, who will receive a $3,000 post-graduate scholarship, is an NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship recipient, First-Team Google Cloud Academic All-District and a three-time NSIC All-Academic team recipient. He has earned multiple scholarships, including the Dr. Jeffrey Behrens Sports Medicine Scholarship, the Mike Freidel Football Scholarship, the Y.T. Johnson Pre-Medicine Scholarship, the Sam Milanovich Scholarship and the Froiland First Year Biology Scholarship.

On campus, Hora was a member of the Tri-Beat Biology National Honor Society and on the Dean's List member each of the past four years. He was the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President, was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Pre-Medicine Club, Biology Club, Tri-Beta Biology Club and Be The Match Club. 

On the field, the middle linebacker recently finished one of the best careers in Viking history. Hora ended his career with 410 career tackles, ranking second all-time in Augustana program history. A four-time All-NSIC selection, Hora's career total of five forced fumbles sits tied for first in Augustana history. In 2015, Hora helped lead the Vikings to a share of the NSIC South division title. 

A native of Sioux Falls, Hora excelled outside the classroom and off the field as he volunteered with Ghosts of Christmas, Food Delivery, Habitat for Humanity, Necessities for Neighbors Distributor and Kids Against Hunger. He worked with the South Dakota Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network Research Fellowship, has been a Nursing Assistant in Sanford Health's radiology department and a Patient Care Technician in Sanford Health's operating rooms.

Hora is the third student-athlete from Augustana University to earn the Britton Award joining Cody Lensing (2012) and Matt Braithwaite (2011).

Anna Winter of Upper Iowa earned the Kelly-Scholar award, which is presented to the NSIC's top female student-athlete. Hora and Winter will be recognized Tuesday, July 9 at the 2019 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Lakeville, Minnesota.

About the Britton Scholar-Athlete Award:

The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 35th year, recognizes the NSIC's top male student-athlete. 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.