The Wildcats’ league for 13 of its sports — the exceptions are hockey, nordic skiing, alpine skiing, women’s wrestling and men’s Greco-Roman wrestling — makes its Commissioner’s Awards to six female and six male student-athletes at the end of each fall, winter and spring athletic season.

Award winners are determined by excellence in both the classroom and in competition for junior, senior and graduates student athletes.

Although that is 36 student-athletes honored each school year, that is spread across all the sports, all the institutions and all the athletes on those teams from around the conference.

NMU had a total of just seven winners of the award from the time it was inaugurated in the 2007-08 school year through 2021-22 for six different athletes, as Marquette native and Wildcats’ track athlete Shayla Huebner won it in consecutive years in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Northern Michigan University’s Leo Nolles, center, leaps from the starting block at a college men’s swimming and diving meet held against Wisconsin-Green Bay at the PEIF pool in Marquette on Jan. 20, 2024. (Photo courtesy NMU)

Now over just the past three school years, going back to 2022-23, the Wildcats have won this prestigious honor an even dozen times.

The latest three are swimmers Camilla Carbone and Mia Strazny from the women’s swimming and diving team and Leo Nolles from the men’s squad.

Carbone becomes Northern’s second two-time winner of the award, joining Huebner, as Carbone was also honored the previous winter of 2023-24.

The trio also more than doubles the number of NMU swimmers and divers earning this award after Carbone’s victory a year ago and men’s swimmer Ondrej Zach earning it in the winter of 2022-23.

And this was the first time the Wildcats have had three student-athletes honored in the same semester, NMU having two honored four times, including in the most recent fall 2024 semester when women’s soccer players Brooke Pietila and Hannah Kastamo earned the distinction.

Leo Nolles

The GLIAC was able to speak about its dozen winners for the winter 2024-25 semester in glowing terms, including it saying the list included “four All-American swimmers” — three of them being the NMU honorees.

The other honorees were Grand Valley State’ women’s basketball senior Rylie Bisballe, GVSU women’s basketball junior Nicole Kamin, GVSU women’s track and field graduate student Alaina Omonode, Wayne State women’s basketball senior Shea Tripp, WSU men’s swimming graduate student Trevor Jones, GVSU men’s track and field senior Myles Kerner, Lake Superior State men’s basketball senior Hunter Soper, GVSU men’s track and field graduate student Scott Spaanstra and Michigan Tech men’s basketball junior Marcus Tomashek.

Kamin is a graduate of Escanaba High School.

Carbone, a graduate student from Rovellasca, Italy, has a perfect 4.00 grade-point average while pursuing her master’s degree in business administration.

Her memorable final season in the pool was capped off by an excellent week at the NCAA Division II Championships, where she earned three All-American honors, including First Team in the 100-yard backstroke and Second Team as a member of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams.

Northern Michigan University women’s swimmer Camilla Carbone, front, gets off to the start of a backstroke event at a Wildcats’ meet held at the PEIF pool in Marquette earlier this season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

Carbone was also a GLIAC champion a few weeks earlier, claiming a first-place gold medal in the 100 back along with a second-place silver in the 400 medley relay.

And she earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators organization while she is still under consideration for its yet-to-be-announced Academic All-America honors.

Strazny, a senior from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, also has a perfect 4.00 GPA as she majors in biology and physiology and plans to attend medical school this fall.

And like Carbone, she was also a multi-All-American at the NCAA Championships. She earned three Second Team accolades in the 100 back, 200 back and as a member of Northern’s 200 medley relay team.

She was a top-three medalist four times at the GLIAC Championships, finishing runner-up in the 100 and 200 back and 200 free relay and third in the 400 free relay.

Camilla Carbone

Strazny was also named a CSC Academic All-District recipient and is up for Academic All-America honors.

Nolles, a junior from Maldonado, Uruguay, has a 3.69 GPA as he majors in athletic coaching.

This 2024 Olympian for his South American country had a historic season for the Wildcat men, earning six All-American honors at the NCAA Championships.

Among them were two bronze medals in the 50 freestyle and 100 free along with a silver medal as part of the Wildcats’ silver medal 200 free relay that missed a national championship by three-hundredths of a second.

Nolles also had stellar performances at the conference championships, being named GLIAC Male Swimmer of the Year thanks to five wins, two runners-up and a third place, in the process posting the fastest time in NCAA Division II and breaking a league record in the 100 free.

Northern Michigan University women’s swimmer Mia Strazny swims the backstroke during a Wildcats’ meet held in NMU’s PEIF Pool in Marquette. (Photos courtesy NMU)

Like his female counterparts, he also earned a CSC Academic All-District award, his for the second straight season, and is up for Academic All-America honors.

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Here is a list of past GLIAC Commissioner’s Award recipients from NMU, listed with the semester, sports and GPA:

Fall 2024 — Brooke Pietila, women’s soccer, 4.00; Hannah Kastamo, women’s soccer, 3.87

Spring 2024 — Minnie Bittell, women’s lacrosse, 3.62

Winter 2023-24 — Camilla Carbone, women’s swimming and diving, 3.975; Makaylee Kuhn, women’s basketball, 4.00

Fall 2023 — Brooke Pietila, women’s soccer, 3.91; Maria Storm, women’s soccer, 3.64

Spring 2023 — Minnie Bittell, women’s lacrosse, 3.58

Winter 2022-23 — Ondrej Zach, men’s swimming and diving, 3.63

Winter 2018-19 — Shayla Huebner, women’s track and field, 3.92

Winter 2017-18 — Shayla Huebner, women’s track and field, 4.00

Fall 2017 — Kameron Burmeister, women’s cross country, 3.74; Madison Whitehead, volleyball, 3.82

Winter 2014-15 — Alyssa Colla, women’s basketball, 3.91

Fall 2009 — Cassie Osiecki, volleyball, 3.52

Winter 2007-08 — Tyler Kazmierkoski, men’s basketball, 3.85

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

Mia Strazny