In the Student Spotlight: Dec. 20, 2019

Kudos to these students

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  • After a breakout season, junior place-kicker Luis Aguilar was announced as the recipient of the 2019 Fred Mitchell Award on Monday. The prestigious award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker in the FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA not only for their performance on the field but for their community service efforts.
  • Astronomy and planetary science Ph.D. student Ari Koeppel was the lead author on a paper recently published in ScienceDirect. The study, “Differentiation in impact melt sheets as a mechanism to produce evolved magmas on Mars,” looks at the differentiation of impact-generated melts as a mechanism for petrogenesis of evolved rocks on the Red Planet. This is Koeppel’s first first-author paper.
  • The Northern Arizona football team placed five Lumberjacks on HERO Sports’ 2019 All-America Teams earlier this week. Junior place-kicker Luis Aguilar earned First Team honors, while senior quarterback Case Cookus and junior punter DJ Arnson were named to the Second and Third Teams respectively. Wide-receiver Brandon Porter landed on HERO Sports’ 2019 FCS Sophomore All-America Team, and wide-receiver Hendrix Johnson garnered honorable mention distinction on the FCS Freshman All-America Team. Aguilar and Cookus also were named to The Associated Press FCS All-America First Team, and Aguilar made the 2019 FCS ADA All-America Team with the top placekicker honor—the first Lumberjack in history to make this list. Aguilar also was named to the STATS FCS All-America First Team, with Arnson earning Third Team honors. Cookus will earn First, Second or Third Team honors depending on the final Walter Payton Award results announced at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet on Jan. 10 in Frisco, Texas.
  • Master’s public health nutrition student and marathon runner Rachel Mitchell qualified for the Olympic trials. Mitchell, who was acknowledged in Runner’s World magazine, will compete in Atlanta in February.
  • Three of Northern Arizona University Athletics’ greats—Angela Chalmers, Ron Mann and Lopez Lomong—were officially announced in the inaugural class of the Big Sky Hall of Fame presented by Jimmy Johns. NAU was one of three schools, along with Idaho State and Montana, to place three members in the 2020 Big Sky Hall of Fame Class. A total of 14 former student-athletes, coaches and administrators are honored in the conference’s first Hall of Fame class.
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