ENMU academic athletes announced

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University Athletic Director Dr. Greg Waggoner announced this week the list of 2017-18 Academic Athletes of the Year for the fall season.

Each fall sport (cross country, soccer, football and volleyball) was represented. The six selected athletes each contributed to their respective programs, both in competition and in the classroom.

“These student-athlete represent the very core of the values of Greyhound Athletics,” said Waggoner. “They are outstanding athletes, people and students. We are fortunate to work with individuals of such high character every day.”

Alexis Aguirre, a biology major at ENMU with an emphasis in pre-medical sciences, set for the Greyhound volleyball team for three seasons. She registered 587 assists as a senior to conclude her career with a grand total of 2,292. Aguirre had a career-high 14 digs to go along with 31 assists as Eastern picked up a 3-1 win over eventual South Central Region finalist West Texas A&M. She also matched a career high in kills during that match, with four.

Wyatt Strand, a mathematics and agricultural science major with a minor in business, helped the ENMU football team to its best season in recent memory. With the first eight-win season at ENMU since 2002, Strand has quarterbacked the Hounds to 15 wins over the last two seasons. One of the toughest quarterbacks in the nation to intercept, Strand only tossed two this season and rushed for 678 yards and six touchdowns.

Coley Norcross, an elementary education/special education major with a minor in visual arts was Eastern's top finisher in five out of six meet this season. She finished 16th at the Lone Star Conference championships, with a time of 24:02.73 in the 6k run. Norcross' 26th-place finish came at the highly-competitive Texas Tech open, with a time of 19:48.80. The meet marked one of her sub-20 minute times in the 5k, as she took fifth at New Mexico Highlands at 19:59.

Lorenzo Juarez, a biology major, posted two 13th-place finishes this season and came in ninth at the West Texas A&M Stampede. At New Mexico Junior College, the junior posted his best 8k time, to place 13th at 26:35.03.

Victoria Nunez, a biology major was a key defender for the Greyhounds in the 2017 season. As a freshman, she appeared in 14 games and helped the team post a miniscule 0.64 goals against average and .881 save percentage over the last 10 games of the season to produce a 3-3-4 record over that stretch. Included in that run was the program's first ever LSC tournament win.

Nicolai Alstrom, a management major played in 34 matches over his career at ENMU, which included 15 contests as a senior. He paced the Hounds in 2017 with two game winning goals, coming late in contests against University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Oklahoma Christian. Alstrom was ENMU's first men's soccer player to receive Academic All-District honors since the 2013 season. In 2013, Brent Schleyer and Andy Wilkinson picked up the honors.