NATCHITOCHES—Five men and five women on the Northwestern State track team showed the Southland Conference its prowess both on and off the track, as they earned spots on the academic all-conference team.

The Demons who were selected were Will Achee, Charlie Bartholomew, Kalen Beavers, Tarajh Hudson and Seth Smith, while the five Lady Demons who earned spots were Sileena Farrell, Margaret Mannering, Thea Ring, Teodora Samac and Eliska Zahradnickova.

Four of the NSU athletes are making repeat appearances on the team, as Achee, Hudson, Farrell and Samac have all been academic all-conference selections before.

Both Achee and Bartholomew are in Oregon for nationals as members of the 4x400 relay team and five others—Beavers, Hudson, Smith, Samac and Zahradnickova—all competed at the NCAA East First Round in Kentucky last month.

Achee, a Bossier City native, made the 400-meter dash in the NCAA East First Round in addition to making the nationals as a member of the relay.

The Parkway High graduate grabbed one outdoor gold (4x400 relay) and one outdoor silver (400), as well as two indoor silvers (4x400 relay, 400).

Achee, a 2025 All-SLC Academic selection, made the team for the second straight season after sporting a 3.766 GPA while majoring in accounting.

He won two conference weekly awards and broke four school records—the 400 twice in both indoor and outdoor, the 4x400 relay outdoor three times, as well as once in the indoor.

Also on the relay team that went to nationals is Bartholomew, who has made the most of his only season at NSU.

Like Achee, he made the NCAA East First Round in the open 400. He was with Achee on the gold medal-winning 4x400 relay team, as well as he finished right behind Achee with the bronze in the open 400 at the conference meet.

Bartholomew sported a GPA of 3.67, majoring in homeland security.

Beavers had a sensational first season with the Demons, ending with a spot on the academic all-conference team.

He was an NCAA East First Round participant in the 100 and won gold as a member of the 4x100 relay team at the conference championship.

At the indoor meet, he was named the SLC Indoor Men's Athlete of the Year and Indoor Men's Track Athlete of the Year, as well as the SLC Men's Indoor Championships MVP after winning gold in both the 60 and 200.

In the classroom, he had a 3.48 GPA while majoring in health and exercise science.

Hudson makes his third appearance on the academic list, as he won the gold medal in the discus throw with a toss of 184-2 at the conference meet and earned another trip to the NCAA East First Round.

He also tossed a season-best 185-7 at regionals and nearly earned a trip to nationals, picking 14^th at regionals in Kentucky.

As a graduate student, he compiled a GPA of 3.5 in health and human performance.

The last one on the men's side was Smith, who posted a perfect 4.0 GPA majoring in accounting and business administration.

Like Hudson, he made the NCAA East First Round in the discus. He also earned points in the conference championships, finishing fourth. He also had the second-best toss of the outdoor season in conference, only to Hudson.

On the women's side, Farrell is making another appearance on the academic team after doing so last season.

She won three medals this year, led by a silver in the 60-meter dash in the indoor season. She followed that up with a pair of bronzes in the 100-meter dash and 4x100 relay in the outdoor season.

Farrell posted a cumulative 3.91 GPA while majoring in health and exercise science.

Mannering, a freshman from Italy, sported a perfect 4.0 in her first season collegiately, majoring in health and exercise science.

At the outdoor meet, she collected the silver medal in the hammer throw.

Another 4.0 came from Ring, who did so while majoring in health and human performance. She collected a bronze with 3726 points in the indoor pentathlon.

Samac made the team once again after she sported a 3.54 GPA while majoring in health and exercise science.

For the second time in as many seasons, she made the NCAA East First Round in the javelin. She won the bronze medal in the conference meet.

The last honoree is Zahradnickova, a senior from the Czech Republic.

In her only season at NSU, she made the NCAA East First Round in the discus on the strength of the top throw in the Southland this season.

She recorded a 3.5 GPA while majoring in health and human performance.

She earned points in both the discus and shot put, including fourth in the discus.