WEST FARGO, N.D. — Augustana University swimmer Maija Kangas has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Outstanding Senior of the Year for women’s swimming and diving, the league announced Saturday.
Kangas, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, was recognized at the conclusion of the NSIC Swimming & Diving Championships. The award acknowledges a senior student-athlete who has competed for four years, demonstrates academic excellence, and positively impacts her team, and university.
Currently pursuing a Master of Professional Accountancy, Kangas previously earned undergraduate degrees in accounting and Spanish while maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average. She is a three-time NSIC Elite 18 Award winner, receiving the honor in 2024, 2025, and 2026, according to Augustana University reporting. She was as well named to the All-NSIC Academic Team of Excellence in 2024-25 and was an Academic All-NSIC honoree in 2023-24.
In the pool, Kangas has been instrumental in three NSIC championship teams for Augustana. She is a two-time conference champion in the 800-yard freestyle relay, winning in 2024 and 2025. She currently holds the school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.19) and is part of the school-record-holding 800-yard freestyle relay team (7:33.29).
At the 2025-26 NSIC Championships, Kangas earned All-NSIC honors as a member of the 800-yard freestyle relay team, which finished second with a time of 7:39.43. Throughout her NSIC Championship career, she achieved multiple top finishes, including a fifth-place finish in the 400 IM and eighth in the 500 freestyle in 2024-25. In 2023-24, she placed third in the 500 freestyle, earning an NCAA B cut, and contributed to the NSIC champion 800 freestyle relay. Her performance in 2022-23 included a second-place finish in the 400 IM (B cut) and a fourth-place finish in the 500 freestyle.
Augustana head coach Andrew Makepeace stated, “Maija defines outstanding in her efforts in the classroom, the pool and the weight room. We are going to miss her leadership in future years.”
The NSIC is a 16-team, 18-sport NCAA Division II conference comprised of institutions in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The conference has secured 27 team national championships and 122 individual national champions.
