JACKSON – As a result of its achievement among student-athlete completion rates in the 2019-20 academic year, Northwest has been selected as a recipient of the David M. Halbrook Award, the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Northwest saw 100 percent of its student-athletes graduate or complete all necessary courses, earning the award for the second time in program history. NWCC previously won the award for the first time following the 2017-18 academic year, where 99 percent of its student-athletes graduated or completed all necessary courses.

This is also the fifth straight year in which Northwest has totaled a 90 percent completion rate or higher, dating back to 91 percent in 2015-16. From there, Northwest posted a 98 percent completion rate in 2016-17, 99 percent in 2017-18, 98 percent in 2018-19 and 100 percent last year.

Northwest also previously won the John C. and Ernestine McCall Halbrook Improvement Award for the greatest increase in graduation of student-athletes from the 2013-14 to 2014-15 academic years. During that span, the student-athlete completion rate jumped from 46 percent to 82 percent.

Additionally, former student-athletes Lindsay Hall and Braden Smith were recognized for having the highest GPA's among Northwest male and female athletes.

A recent Northwest graduate and current women's basketball student-athlete at Blue Mountain College, Hall maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her two years at Northwest and was a mainstay on the school's President's List. The Ingomar native shined brightly on the court and in the classroom, earning numerous MACJC and NJCAA academic honors while also finishing sixth all-time in the Lady Rangers' record books with 89 career three-pointers.

Now a member of the football program at the University of Louisville, Smith also maintained a 3.9 GPA in three semesters at Northwest, while also finishing as a two-time Academic All-MACJC and NJCAA All-Academic honoree. The former Northwest Rankin standout served as a pivotal piece of the Rangers' receiving corps from 2018-19, racking up over 1,200 receiving yards and over 1,700 all-purpose yards, while guiding the Rangers to back-to-back MACJC playoff appearances and a runner-up finish in 2019.

Established in 1984, the Halbrook awards are presented to the institutional executive officers of the winning colleges and universities with the highest percentage of graduating student athletes. The individual colleges and universities are responsible for establishing criteria for selection of certificate recipients, although the MAC suggests that recipients have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale with all courses attempted.

The David M. Halbrook Award is usually presented during the annual MAC Conference, but the event was not held this year due to COVID-19. University of Mississippi Chancellor Dr. Glenn Boyce, who served as the 2019-2020 president of the MAC Board of Directors, presented the awards at the board's recent online meeting.