INDIANAPOLIS – For the third straight year and the fifth time in the last six years, the Southwest Minnesota State University Athletics Department is one of 17 institutions to earn the NCAA Division II Community Engagement Award of Excellence.

SMSU was named the 2012-13 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference winner for its annual “Ag Bowl” event held last September. 

Community engagement is a key part of Division II's strategic position. It emphasizes not only the relationship of the athletics program with the community but also the interaction of the overall institution with the community in which it is located.

SMSU also won the award in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 for “Ag Bowl”, while the department's annual “Smokefest” competition captured the award in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

“We are honored to receive the NCAA Division II Conference Community Engagement Award of Excellence for the 2013 Ag Bowl as the top civic engagement event of the year in the NSIC,” said Chris Hmielewski, SMSU Director of Athletics. “Ag Bowl has become a regional event that highlights SMSU's relationships with the ag industry, ag community and agricultural educational opportunities available at SMSU and in southwestern Minnesota.”

The sixth annual “Ag Bowl” was held on Sept. 15, 2012, and is an event that celebrates agriculture in southwest Minnesota.  The day featured many great activities including face painting, pony rides, Ag Olympics, tractor displays, live music, raffle and the popular Hy-Vee/Hormel Food Zone tent.  The day was capped off with the SMSU football game versus the University of Mary. 

A new element added to this year's Ag Bowl was the Ag Bowl Scholarship Challenge sponsored by Ralco, Inc. The event provided an opportunity for members of Future Farmers of America (FFA) to learn about and present topics related to the future of agriculture. Teams consisted of three FFA members who researched and presented topics related to World Food Supply.  All the teams competing in the Ag Bowl Challenge received a monetary award for participating in the event, while the winners of each category received a stipend for their FFA chapter. 

“This year's event featured a new program, the Ag Bowl Scholarship Challenge. Future Farmer's of America (FFA) Chapters competed for over $13,000 in scholarships and prize money in the areas of Ag Communications, Marketing and Issues.” Hmielewski said.  “The event attracted eight FFA Chapter teams consisting of twenty-four students who competed for top honors. An event of this magnitude takes the hard work of many administrators, staff members, clubs and organizations, businesses, community members and our student-athletes. Thank you to all the individuals who contributed to the success of Ag Bowl. A big thank you to Ralco, Inc. for their title sponsorship of Ag Bowl spanning all six years we have hosted the event. We would especially like to thank Jon and Brian Knochenmus of Ralco, Inc. Ag Bowl has become a destination event because of the vision and leadership Jon and Brian have provided the event through the years.”

Southern Arkansas University was named the 2012-13 overall winner with its “Muleriders in Magnolia” program.