Natesan and Herl Named 2016-17 RMAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines’ Gokul Natesan and Chadron State’s Mel Herl are the 2016-17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Scholar-Athletes of the Year, announced on Wednesday.
Last year, the RMAC Scholar-Athletes consisted of two student-athletes per institution. This year, the award was restructured to recognize one Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
To be eligible for the RMAC Scholar-Athlete award, individuals must compete in one of the conference sponsored championship sports; carry at least a 3.30 Grade Point Average (GPA); must use a season of competition; be of good character and must have participated at the active member institution for two (2) or more seasons in at least one sport. True freshmen and first year transfers are not eligible for this award.
All nominees that meet those requirements, but were not selected for the award automatically qualify for honorable mention.
Natesan completed his senior year with a 3.90 cumulative GPA with a major in Computer Science. The Santa Clara, California native excelled in both men’s basketball and academics during the 2016-17 season. He was second in NCAA Division II in free throws made with 202 and shot .426 overall and .828 at the line. In addition, he averaged 18.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.1 assists per game and garnered 73 steals and 15 blocks on the season. He became the fourth player in Orediggers history to score 2,000 points. Natesan led the team to a 30-5 overall record, while the Orediggers captured the RMAC regular season and tournament championship titles. They also won the NCAA South Central Regional title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
His assortment of accolades includes RMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA South Central Region, RMAC Academic Player of the Year, RMAC Summit Award winner, Bevo Francis Award watch list member, CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District and All-America, and First Team All-RMAC.
Herl maintained a 3.75 graduate GPA (3.82 GPA in undergraduate) majoring in Organizational Management as a graduate student. She had a phenomenal track and field season during indoor and outdoor. She was crowned national champion twice in hammer throw and indoor shot put, received All-America recognition in three events (weight throw, outdoor shot put, and discus throw) and captured five RMAC titles.
Hailing from Eaton, Colorado, Herl also landed on the NCAA Division II all-time performers list ranked second in weight throw (21.98m) and hammer throw (65.27m). She was also fifth in outdoor shot put (16.92m) and sixth in discus throw (57.07m). Her other accolades include RMAC All-Academic First Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District, First Team All-RMAC, and USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.
Natesan and Herl will be recognized at the 2017 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on Friday, July 14 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. For more information on the event,
click here.
Honorable Mention
Adams State
Austin Baumeister – Men’s Soccer
Jenna Thurman – Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Black Hills State
Josh Davis – Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Taylor Trohkimoinen – Women’s Basketball
Chadron State
Alejandro Garcia – Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Colorado Mesa
Kyle Serrano – Baseball
McKenzie Surface - Softball
Colorado School of Mines
Taryn Huber – Volleyball
CSU-Pueblo
Dante Carter – Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Sydni Riley – Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Fort Lewis
Will Morse - Basketball
Ande Lampert – Women’s Basketball
MSU Denver
Josh Graetz – Men’s Tennis
Georgia Ohrdorf – Women’s Basketball
New Mexico Highlands
James Healy - Men's Basketball
Caroline Hansen - Women's Volleyball
Regis
Josh Newell – Baseball
Maggie Steward - Volleyball
South Dakota School of Mines
Andrew Montoya – Football
Megan Rohrer – Women’s Basketball
UCCS
Zach Berhost – Men’s Golf
Morgan Evans - Volleyball
Western
Brady Subart - Men’s Basketball
Alicja Konieczek – Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country