For Immediate Release
Saturday, October 21, 2023
NSIC Media Relations

BISMARCK, N.D. – Winona State’s Lindsay Cunningham was voted by the league coaches as the winner of the NSIC Women’s Cross Country Outstanding Senior of the Year Award.  A native of  Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, she holds a 4.00 grade point average while majoring in exercise science with a movement science emphasis and a minor in psychology. She was presented the award following the NSIC Cross Country Championships, which took place on Saturday, October 21 in Bismarck, North Dakota.
 
The “NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year Award” is presented to a NSIC women’s cross country student-athlete who participates at their institution for four years and is academically superior while making a positive contribution to their team and the University. The NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year award was initiated in 2020-21 to honor an outstanding senior that exemplifies the attributes of the model NSIC student-athlete.
 
Cunningham won the NSIC Championship for the third year in a row, becoming the first NSIC female student-athlete to ever accomplish that feat.  A graduate of Wisconsin Dells High School, Cunningham won ever regular season cross country race she has enter in her collegiate career. A three-time NSIC Champion, she is a two-time NCAA Central Region Champion and a two-time All-American.  Cunningham finished seventh at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship in 2021 and was national runner-up in 2022. She is a three-time NSIC Athlete of the Week and earned USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week honors twice this season. 
 
In the classroom, Cunningham has been on the Dean’s list every semester. She has earned the Presidential Honors Scholarships every semester and was named Winona State University Student-Athlete of the Year in 2022. She was awarded the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year in spring of 2023. She plans to pursue a Doctorate in Physical Therapy in the fall of 2024.

In the community, Cunningham has volunteered service hours collecting canned food for Winona area shelters. She has been a spokesperson for Winona State's Mental Health Services at sporting events and volunteered hours at Winona Health, New Life Physical Therapy, and Dynamic Performance and Therapy in Onalaska, Wisconsin. She has also worked two summers for the Kidz Klub in Wisconsin Dells directing and taking care of children for working parents.

“Lindsay's has represented the NSIC at the highest level. She is one of the best distance runners in NCAA Division II history. Her achievements in the classroom are just as exemplary. What I like best about Lindsay is that she is so humble and a great teammate. I feel very fortunate to be her coach and watch her grow as a runner and as a person these past four years,” said Head Coach John Hibshman. 

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 15-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 25 team national championships and crowned 110 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes can earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.