SBU’S O’KEEFE, NWMSU’S ZIMMERMAN NAMED MIAA KEN B. JONES AWARD WINNERS

MIAA Press Release

Kansas City, Mo. – The winners of the Ken B. Jones Award were announced last night as 11 individuals were inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame. Natalie O’Keefe of Southwest Baptist was the women’s winner while Kyle Zimmerman of Northwest Missouri received the men’s award.

O’Keefe is a two-time NCAA Elite 90 recipient and was named an Academic All-American last season with this season’s awards yet to be determined. She was the 2016 Ken B. Jones Award winner and has three career national titles and is a six-time All-American. She is the first athlete in SBU history to win two NCAA National Championships and has now won three MIAA Championships and been named All-MIAA seven times.

Twice she has been named the Southwest Baptist female athlete of the year and was the SBU Rex Brown Award Winner. She becomes just the third MIAA student-athlete to win multiple Ken B. Jones Awards joining tonight’s hall of fame inductee from UCM Lindsay Lettow and Pittsburg State’s Brian Moorman.

Away from athletics, Natalie has been involved in a number of activities around the Bolivar community. These include the being a part of the “Share Your Christmas” event providing presents for underprivileged children. She volunteered her time to hold the Humansville Track and Field Team as well as participating in the “track day” at an elementary school as part of the NCAA’s Make A Difference at the NCAA Indoor Nationals.

Academically Natalie, who is a junior, carries a 4.00 GPA as an Art major. She has been an MIAA Honor Roll member for four years and four times she has been named to the MIAA Scholar Athlete list. She is also a two-time recipient of the Academic Excellence award.

Kyle Zimmerman, quarterback for Northwest Missouri State is a two-time National Champion and was named the Kansas City Sports Commissioner Sportsman of the Year. He was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year also earning first team All-MIAA honors. He was a named a second team All-American by three different publications following the 2016 season. He led his team to a 15-0 record this season going 299 of 441 passing for 3,763 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Off the field, Brent was very active throughout his career in the Maryville Community as well as on campus. He participated in the annual spring cleanup in and around Maryville and also helped at the local food pantry and read at local elementary schools.

Academically Kyle was named the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in football and was a 2016 first team Academic All-American. He graduated with a 3.95 in Business Management before starting his MBA in General Management in 2016-17. He was a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and was a Scholar Athlete in 2016. He graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 2016 and earned the Northwest Missouri President’s Award six times.