BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Augustana's Maija Kangas and Ashton Michek have been named NSIC Honor Student-Athletes as part of the league's Britton/Kelly Awards announced Thursday. Kangas recently completed her final campaign with the Augustana swimming and diving team while Michek is a member of the Viking baseball team.
 
NSIC members nominate one female and one male student-athlete for the Britton/Kelly Awards and come from a criteria of a grade point average of 3.5 or better, evidence of academic excellence beyond the minimum GPA (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.

A native of Excelsior, Minnesota, Kangas maintains a 4.0 grade-point average while completing her Master of Professional Accountancy after earning undergraduate degrees in accounting and Spanish.

In the pool, Kangas was a key contributor to three NSIC championship teams for Augustana and is a two-time conference champion in the 800-yard freestyle relay (2024, 2025). She is the school record holder in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.19) and the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:33.29).

At the 2025-26 NSIC Championships, Kangas earned All-NSIC honors in the 800 yard freestyle relay at this year's championship, as the Vikings finished in second place with a time of 7:39.43. She is a three-time Academic All-NSIC member and CSCAA Scholar All-America honoree. 

Michek, hailing from Bangor, Wisconsin, holds a 3.38 career ERA across 49 appearances and 202 1/3 innings for the Vikings. The NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year holds a 3.86 cumulative grade-point average and is majoring in finance. 
 
The 2024 NSIC Pitcher of the Year, Academic All-NSIC, and All-Region member has won two NSIC championships and is all over the career record list. He is the all-time leader in pickoffs (27), ranks fifth in strikeouts (224) and is seventh in both wins (19) and innings pitched (208 1/3 innings). 

A season ago, the 2025 D2CCA/Daktronics All-Region Second Team member went 5-2 in NSIC action with a 3.31 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 2025. He has ranked in the top-5 in NSIC ERA in both 2024 and 2025 and was a consensus All-Region selection in 2024.