BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) has named Winona State University's Carter McCauley as the 2018 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award winner. The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 34th year, recognizes the NSIC's top male student-athlete.
Winona State's nominee for the NSIC Kelly Award, recognizing the top female student-athlete, McKenna Larsen, was named a 2017-18 NSIC Women's Honor Student-Athlete Award winner by virtue of her nomination. This year's NSIC Kelly Award was presented to Northern State's Miranda Ristau.
The Britton Award was created in 1985 in honor of Dr. William Britton, a longtime faculty representative at Bemidji State University. The member institutions of the NSIC nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the Britton and Kelly Awards. 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.
McCauley will be recognized Tuesday, July 10 at the 2018 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Best Western Premier in Burnsville, Minnesota, and will receive a $3,000 post-graduate scholarship.
McCauley, a native of Owatonna, Minnesota, is a senior majoring in cell & molecular biology with a minor in biochemistry at Winona State University. The Owatonna High School graduate holds a 4.00 GPA while excelling in football for the Warriors. McCauley is the sixth student-athlete from Winona State University to earn the Britton Award joining Alex Coulter (2013), Marcus Greatens (2010), Nate Gruber (1995), Jeff Engbrecht (1994) and James Scott Bestul (1985).
McCauley has made the dean's list every semester and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate in Biology. This prestigious and coveted award is given to a sole graduate in the Biology Department. He received the competitive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship as one of 58 total awardees from fall sports across three divisions. He was named CoSIDA Academic All-American and NSIC All-Academic Team three times. He has researched "Synthesis and electrochemistry of pyrazinium salts", which investigated pyrazinium salt electrochemical properties with the aim of investigating their catalytic properties towards water oxidation to produce oxygen and hydrogen for renewable energy. He also had a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Mayo Graduate School, where he conducted and led diabetes research project and presented research in front of leading researchers at Mayo Clinic.
On campus, McCauley was a member of the Winona State Student Senate and elected as the representative of the College of Science and Engineering and was the athletics representative. He also assumed the leadership position as Chair of the Student Services committee. McCauley also served on the WSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee the past three years. Other campus activities included the WSU Football Leadership Council, Readers to Warriors, academic tutor and Relay for Life fundraising and organizing teams.
On the field, McCauley earned All-NSIC second team honors twice in his career and was named NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week on four occasions. In 2015 he was named Super Region 3 All-Region second team. McCauley holds the NSIC & WSU record for field goals made in a career with 55. He also holds the WSU records for the longest field goal (59 yards), most field goals made in a season (19), single-season kicking points (104), and single-game kicking points (17).
McCauley excelled outside the classroom and off the field, combining his attributes and success into his passion for medical service. He received the Arnold Fenske Research Internship, conducted research on the quality of care provided to cancer patients in their surgeries for both breast cancer and melanoma patients. As a St. Croix Hospice Volunteer, he worked as a hospice companion volunteer for two separate hospice patients. He volunteered closely with the Community Care Network at Winona Health, was a Red Cross Community Volunteer leader and worked as a certified nursing assistant at Winona Health-Lake Winona Manor.
