INDIANAPOLIS – Seven student-athletes, representing six Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) institutions, have been named 2018 GLVC Fall Scholar-Athletes of the Year, it was announced by the Conference office on Thursday. Recipients were honored for their efforts both in the classroom and competition in the sports of men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball.
Bellarmine University led the way with two honorees, while Drury University, Missouri S&T, Rockhurst University, University of Southern Indiana and Truman State University each earned one selection. The Bellarmine selections included
Jonas Skulstad (men’s soccer) and
Karly Gawarecki (women’s cross country), while Drury’s
Claire McCune (women’s cross country) tied with Gawarecki for the sport’s selection.
Austin Nolan (men’s cross country) is a repeat winner, while S&T’s
Bo Brooks (football), Truman’s
Laura Ney (women’s soccer) and Rockhurst’s
Karli Reichert (volleyball) round out the distinguished winners.
The league selects one student-athlete in each Conference sport to be designated the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award is based upon athletic accomplishments, both team and individual, and academic performance in the season upon which the award is based. Each Conference member has the opportunity to nominate one individual from its team for the award. Nominees must have a cumulative grade point average that meets Academic All-America standards (3.30), and freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible for the award. The voting is completed by each member institution's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR).
Men’s Cross Country: Nolan is a back-to-back winner and becomes a five-peat GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Southern Indiana in men’s cross country after Chase Broughton was selected in 2016 and Johnnie Guy earned the honor for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The two-time GLVC Champion is also the fifth USI runner to earn the Scholar-Athlete of the Year laurel all-time, as Jesse Davis was the 2004 winner and Brendan Devine was chosen in 2011. Nolan concluded his junior season with the GLVC Runner of the Year accolade and All-GLVC recognition for finishing first in the GLVC Championship meet with a time of 24:06.30, besting his winning time in 2017 by just over 22 seconds, on the 8-meter course in Louisville, Kentucky, where the Screaming Eagles also earned the GLVC team title for the 14th consecutive season. He was additionally honored as an All-Midwest Region runner after finishing six spots better than last year in 10th (32:02.60) at the 10k NCAA Regional before placing 75th at the NCAA Championships, 24 spots higher than his finish as a sophomore. His efforts helped USI place 19th as a team in Pittsburgh. Nolan’s fall GPA was 3.718 and currently boasts a near-perfect 3.944 overall GPA while studying accounting and professional services and finance with a minor in management.
Women’s Cross Country:
Gawarecki has excelled both in the classroom as a psychology major, carrying a 3.63 cumulative GPA, and on the cross country course where she was the runner-up at this year’s GLVC Championship meet. For her 21:22.36 6k time, the senior captured All-GLVC merits and led the Knights to an eighth-place team finish. The senior placed a GLVC-best 3rd at the NCAA Midwest Regional in 21:32.5, garnering All-Midwest Region accolades, and ran 23:12.7 to finish 18th at the NCAA Championships. She was the only GLVC runner to compete at nationals and thus, the league’s only All-American this season. Additionally, the senior won two Runner of the Week awards and was the only runner from the GLVC to earn all three postseason accolades. This is the fifth time a Bellarmine runner has been named GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the sport, as Erin Crone won last season, Emily Frith was a back-to-back selection in 2013 and 2014, and current head coach Angela Musk was the program’s first pick in 2012.
Women’s Cross Country: McCune finished first in three races this past fall that included her repeat GLVC Championship title and Runner of the Year laurel, crossing the 6k finish line in a school-record 21:15 for a third-place team finish – the program’s best league result. At the NCAA Midwest Regional, she placed 13th (22:11.2) out of 192 runners behind just two from the GLVC in Gawarecki and Indianapolis’ Mickayla Wenzel (12th), while the team was 15th. All of her efforts throughout the season helped the Panthers to their first-ever USTFCCCA D-II national ranking. Not only has she seen much success on the course, but she studies international business in the classroom and holds a 3.75 cumulative GPA.
Football:
Brooks, an All-GLVC First Team pick this past season, becomes Missouri S&T’s second-ever football Scholar-Athlete and eighth overall Miner to be honored. In fact, he is a repeat winner for S&T, as DeShawn Jones was selected in 2017. The petroleum engineering major with a 3.75 cumulative GPA helped the Miners to their program’s first bowl game, earning a 51-16 victory in the Mineral Water Bowl over Minnesota State-Moorhead. The linebacker garnered Second Team All-America distinction from D2CCA and D2Football.com after starting all 12 games and finishing with 87 tackles (58 solo) to go with a single-season program record 22 tackles for loss. In addition, he tallied 11 quarterback sacks. His tackles for loss total led the GLVC and was seventh in NCAA D-II while he was second in the loop in sacks per game (1.00) and fumbles forced per game (0.33), tied for second in fumble recoveries per game (0.17), ninth in overall tackles (88), and 16th in passes defended per game (0.50). Moreover, Brooks was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Second Team and named to the Dean’s List in Rolla. The Miners concluded 2018 with a 10-2 record and a 6-1 mark against GLVC foes to finish runner-up, matching their best finish since the league’s inaugural season in 2012.
Men’s Soccer: A physical therapy major, carrying a 3.70 overall GPA,
Skulstad was named the GLVC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-GLVC First Team member in 2018, as well as, a first-team United Soccer Coaches and D2CCA All-Midwest Region honoree. The center back started all 19 matches for the 12-5-2 Knights, seeing 1,670 minutes of action and amassing two goals, one assist, 18 shots, and 13 shots on goal. He was recognized as the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 15 and anchored a backline throughout the season that helped Bellarmine to a 9-3-1 Conference record and the No. 2 seed in the GLVC Championship Tournament where the squad advanced all the way to the finals. The Knights ended the season receiving votes just outside the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Women's Soccer:
Ney becomes Truman’s first-ever GLVC Scholar-Athlete selection in the sport and eighth overall for the school. The senior boosted her 3.90 cumulative GPA after registering a perfect 4.0 in the fall, all while studying master’s level work in science education and helping the Bulldogs to a share of the GLVC regular season title. She started 10 of 19 games at defensive midfield, scoring one goal with four shots and assisting in nine team shutouts. Additionally, the Omaha, Nebraska, native guided Truman to a 14-4-1 overall mark and a 9-3-1 record in league play. Following the regular season, Ney was voted to the All-GLVC First Team for her third league nod and also picked up United Soccer Coaches All-Region first-team status.
Volleyball: With a cumulative GPA of 3.98 after a perfect 2018 at 4.0, studying communication sciences and disorders,
Reichert earns Rockhurst’s second GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the program, as Whitney Kostal was a two-time winner in 2013 and 2015. This past fall, the junior was named to the First Team for All-GLVC, AVCA All-Midwest Region, and AVCA All-America. Moreover, she was distinguished as the AVCA Midwest Region Player of the Year and picked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament All-Region Team. Academically, she gleaned Google Cloud Academic All-District laurels. Statistically, the outside hitter averaged 3.60 kills per set, 4.06 points per set, 2.57 digs per set, and 0.25 aces per set. Her totals for kills (523), attacks (1,503), and points (590.0) ranked first in the GLVC, while her 40 services aces was fourth in the loop. In the NCAA, she had top-10 numbers for kills (sixth) and attacks (eighth). As a team, the Hawks finished with a 32-7 overall record and a 14-4 clip in GLVC action before winning the GLVC Championship Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The win earned them the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where it won its first two matches but fell to Lewis in the regional finals.
2018 GLVC FALL SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Men's Cross Country: Austin Nolan, Southern Indiana
Women's Cross Country: Karly Gawarecki, Bellarmine & Claire McCune, Drury
Football: Bo Brooks, Missouri S&T
Men's Soccer: Jonas Skulstad, Bellarmine
Women's Soccer: Laura Ney, Truman State
Volleyball: Karli Reichert, Rockhurst