2020 Dakota State University Athletics Annual Awards
Braden Curnow (2020) - Cross Country, Track & Field (Co-Outstanding Male Athlete)
Braden Curnow had another amazing season as he added two more NAIA All-American honors, totaling four All-American selections.
In the fall, Curnow won three individual cross-country titles for the Trojans. He won his second straight NSAA cross country conference title while earning the NSAA Most Valuable Runner for the second consecutive year. He propelled the Trojans to their second straight conference men's cross-country team title and advanced to the NAIA national meet in Vancouver, Wash.
At the recent NSAA Indoor Track & Field conference championships, Curnow captured the 1-mile and 3000-meter races to help the Trojans earn back-to-back NSAA conference team titles. He and teammates Cameron Harming and Joshua Snook tied as the Most Valuable Athlete-of-the-Meet, where each scored 20 points in the conference meet.
Curnow ran in the NAIA Indoor Track 5000-meters for the second straight year. He finished as the fourth fastest runner in the field of 21 in the semifinals round on the first day of the national meet with a time of 14 minutes, 51.40 seconds. On the final day of the national indoor track meet, Braden collected another NAIA Indoor Track All-America honor after finishing fifth with a time of 14 minutes, 52.77 seconds.
In all, Curnow collected a total of 15 North Star Athletic Association All-Conference honors in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.
Due to COVID-19 that canceled the current spring sports season, Curnow is scheduled to return next spring to complete the outdoor track season.
Braden is the son of Gene and Kris Curnow of Hibbing, Minn. He is a senior exercise science major at Dakota State University.
Brodie Frederiksen (2020) - Football (Co-Outstanding Male Athlete)
Brodie Frederiksen broke a 40-plus-year-old school record in rushing this season. He set a new school record for career rushing with 3,487 yards, breaking the previous record held by Jeff Rodman, who tallied 3,339 rushing yards from 1973 to 1976.
Frederiksen also tied Rodman's 1976 single-season record with 15 rushing touchdowns. In 2018, Frederiksen set a single-season rushing mark with 1,387 yards, surpassing the old school record of 1,370 rushing yards set by Jim Janssen in 1978.
Frederiksen was named to the North Star Athletic Association Football All-Conference First Team as a return specialist and was also named a Second Team All-Conference running back in 2019. He was named NSAA Football All-Conference in 2017 and 2018. He was listed on the NAIA Football All-American Honorable Mention list in 2018.
Brodie is the son of Matthew Frederiksen and Amy Janke of Madison, S.D. He is a senior professional accountancy major at DSU.
Barbara Briceno (2020) - Volleyball (Tri-Outstanding Female Athlete)
Barbara Briceno is the first Trojan to be named an NAIA Volleyball Third Team All-America this past fall, as was an Honorable Mention recipient in 2018. She was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association/NAIA All-Region First Team and North Star Athletic Association Volleyball All-Conference First Team for two straight seasons.
Briceno was fifth in the North Star conference with 3.2 kills per set, sixth in total kills with 387, sixth in digs per set with an average of 4.0, seventh in total digs with 480, and 13th in 35 service aces. She was eighth in NSAA conference in hitting percentage of .208.
She completed her impressive career with 734 kills, 943 digs, 82 service aces, and 66 blocks for Dakota State. She played in 239 total sets during her career, averaging 3.1 kills and 4.0 digs per set.
Briceno was an integral member of the Trojan volleyball team that reached the NSAA Volleyball postseason conference tournament's championship match for the last two seasons. She was also a member of the DSU volleyball team that qualified for their first-ever NAIA Volleyball National Tournament Opening Round, as well as being ranked in the NAIA Top 25 at No. 22 for the first time in school history.
Briceno is the daughter of Luis Briceno and Carmen Rabanal of Lima, Peru. She is a network and security administration major at Dakota State.
Traia Hubbard (2020) - Track & Field (Tri-Outstanding Female Athlete)
Traia Hubbard collected 22 points in the throwing events in the 2019 North Star Athletic Association Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning her the conference's Most Valuable Field Athlete of the Meet award.
She won the conference discus throw with a meet record of 142 feet and placed third in the hammer throw and shot put. She also qualified for the 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, where she finished 11th out of 21 throwers in the discus.
At the recent NSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Hubbard set a school record of 51 feet, .25 inches to win the weight throw title. She also earned a runner-up honor in the shot put after throwing 42 feet, 11.75 inches. She qualified for the NAIA Indoor Track & Field national meet in the shot put, where she finished fifth with a school-record throw of 45 feet, 11.5 inches.
Hubbard made school history by becoming the first DSU women's indoor shot-put thrower to be named NAIA All-America, as well as the first DSU qualifier for the NAIA women's indoor track & field championship meet since 2011.
Traia is the daughter of John and Tina Hubbard of Yankton, S.D. She is a junior exercise science major at Dakota State University.
Nicole Stewart (2020) - Softball (Tri-Outstanding Female Athlete)
Nicole Stewart was selected to the North Star Athletic Association Softball First Team All-Conference squad for three straight years before the 2019-20 season. She led the team with .436 batting average, which is the fifth-best single-season school record in 2018-19. She also recorded 16 doubles, 89 total bases, .636 slugging percentage, and .459 on-base percentage during her junior season.
When the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the world, Stewart played her final career collegiate softball in Tucson, Arizona on March 13. She went 2-of-3 at the plate with a double and hitting a 2-run home run on her final career at-bat. She owns the DSU all-time school record with 22 home runs and 51 doubles.
Stewart is listed in numerous Trojan softball "Top 10" record lists. Her DSU all-time records include second in hits with 189 and total bases with 306 total bases. She is third with 99 RBIs, fourth in batting average with .395, fifth with 478 at-bats, seventh in both fielding percentage with 95.9 percentage and 378 put-outs, and eighth with 71 runs scored.
Nicole is the daughter of Calvin Thomas and Laura Beck of Salida, Calif. She is a senior exercise science major at DSU.
Josh McGreal (2020) - Men's Basketball (Dusty Andersen Award)
Josh McGreal was named a North Star men's basketball Second Team All-Conference recipient in 2019-20. He led the team with 447 points in 2019-20 season, averaging 17.9 points per game. He was 182-of-261 from the field (52.8 percent), drained 30 3-pointers in 79 tries, and converted 53-of-68 free-throws.
McGreal ranked 42nd in the NAIA Division II in field goal percentage. He averaged 5.0 rebounds per game and recorded 16 blocks. In 13 North Star conference games, he averaged 20 points which were the second-best scoring average in the NSAA. He also posted 5.7 rebounds per game. He shot 108-of-204 from the field for 52.9 percent which was the sixth-best field goal percentage in the NSAA conference.
McGreal was also named to the NSAA Champions of Character award for two straight years.
Josh is the son of Tom and Barbara McGreal of Lino Lakes, Minn. He is a junior graphic design major at Dakota State University.
