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NATCHITOCHES -- Football tight end Justin Aldredge, softball pitcher Kelee Grimes and soccer midfielder Rachel O'Steen headlined eight award recipients at the annual Northwestern State Athletics Academic Achievement Banquet saluting outstanding student-athletes returning from 2010-11.

Aldredge (accounting major), Grimes (business administration) and O'Steen (English education) each posted perfect 4.0 grade point averages in the 2010-11 academic year to earn the Academic Juniors of the Year awards.

Freshmen of the year winners were football center John McLendon(nursing) and softball outfielder Bailee Cartwright (communications), both with  4.0 GPAs.

Sophomore of the year awards went to cross country runner Kyle Lessig, with a 4.0 GPA in accounting, and Lady Demon tennis standout Andrea Nedorostova, a communications major whose 3.91 GPA was tops among all female athletes in her class last year.

Academic advisors Carrie Crowell and Cary Bruno presented the awards, culminating with the Trailblazer of the Year award given to junior football defensive tackle Leslie Deamer. The award is annually given to the student-athlete making the greatest academic progress over previous performance.

Crowell said 44 percent of the athletic department's 377 student-athletes posted a 3.0 or better GPA in at least one semester in 2010-11, a record performance. All those student-athletes returning were eligible to attend the banquet, held Tuesday night at The Landing Restaurant in historic downtown Natchitoches.

Kent Gresham, owner of The Landing, donated the cost of the dinner for the seventh straight year to recognize the outstanding academic achievement of NSU's student-athletes.