INDIANAPOLIS – Six student-athletes, representing four Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) institutions, have been named 2017 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 three honorees, while Lewis University, Missouri S&T, and the University of Southern Indiana each earned one selection. The Bellarmine selections included
Erin Crone (women’s cross country),
Taylor Smith (women’s soccer), and
Jordyn Kuchenbrod (volleyball).
Austin Nolan was the fourth consecutive USI men’s cross country honoree, while S&T’s
Deshawn Jones (football) and Lewis’
Nico Mueller (men’s soccer) 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 becomes a four-peat GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Southern Indiana in men’s cross country after Chase Broughton was selected last season and Johnnie Guy earned the honor for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The 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 sophomore 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 24:28.66 on the 8-meter course in Kirksville, Missouri, where the Screaming Eagles also earned the GLVC team title. He was additionally honored as an All-Midwest Region runner after finishing 16th (31:52.40) at the 10k NCAA Regional before placing 98th at the NCAA Championships, helping USI to a 12th-place team finish. Nolan currently boasts a perfect 4.00 overall GPA while studying accounting and professional services.
Women’s Cross Country:
Crone has excelled both in the classroom as an environmental science major, carrying a 3.96 cumulative GPA, and on the cross country course where she was the runner-up at this year’s GLVC Championship meet. For her 22:01.80 6k time, the senior captured All-GLVC merits and led the Knights to a runner-up team finish, as well. The senior placed 10th at the NCAA Midwest Regional, garnering All-Midwest Region accolades for the second time in her distinguished career. This is the fourth time a Bellarmine runner has been named GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the sport, as current head coach Angela Musk was the program’s first pick in 2012, while Emily Frith was a back-to-back selection in 2013 and 2014.
Football:
Jones, a unanimous All-GLVC First Team pick this past season, becomes Missouri S&T’s first-ever football Scholar-Athlete and seventh overall Miner to be honored. The sophomore holds a 3.45 cumulative GPA and studies biological sciences, earning CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America Second Team accolades after his 3.11 fall semester GPA. In addition, the running back was a nominee for the Harlon Hill Award, named to the D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Team, garnered second-team AP All-America status, and picked up honorable mention All-America recognition from D2Football.com thanks to his record-setting season with new GLVC rushing single-game (275 yards) and regular-season (1,579) marks. Moreover, he led the league in rushing yards, touchdowns (16), scoring (96), and all-purpose yards (1,798). Among the NCAA Division II contingent, he ranked fourth in rushing and 15th in all-purpose yards, helping the squad finish in a tie for second in the GLVC with a 5-2 record while going 7-4 overall.
Men’s Soccer: A psychology major, carrying a 3.74 overall GPA,
Mueller was an All-GLVC First Team member in 2017, a first-team United Soccer Coaches and second-team D2CCA All-Region honoree. He also picked up first-team CoSIDA All-District and third-team Academic All-America laurels in the fall. The forward scored 28 points, for a league-best 1.67 points per game, on a GLVC-high 13 goals and two assists. His six game-winning goals also led the loop this past season, which ranked ninth in the NCAA. Lewis went 12-4-2 overall and 10-3-1 in GLVC games, earning the No. 3 seed in the GLVC Championship Tournament, advancing to the semifinals but ultimately getting knocked out in penalty kicks. Mueller also earned two GLVC Offensive Player of the Week awards (10/9, 10/28) along with one United Soccer Coaches National weekly honor (10/24). The senior is just the third Flyers men’s soccer player named a GLVC Scholar-Athlete, joining John Thompson from 2001 and Alec Pickett from 2014.
Women's Soccer:
Smith becomes Bellarmine’s third GLVC Scholar-Athlete in the sport in just four years, as Mary Beth Gorham took the distinction in 2015 and Taylor Gamm picked up the first in 2014. The senior holds a 3.83 cumulative GPA while studying elementary education, as she was named a United Soccer Coaches first-team Academic All-American. Athletically, she was a first-team All-GLVC honoree, first-team D2CCA All-Midwest Region and second-team All-America pick, as well as a first-team United Soccer Coaches All-Region and third-team All-America team member. The two-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week (9/4, 10/23) set new program records for shutouts (13) and save percentage (.908), which were both tops in the league, while finishing second in program history with a GLVC-best 0.38 goals against average. Both GLVC-leading marks were good for fifth in Division II. Her efforts also helped the Knights set a program record for fewest goals allowed (eight), going 8-4-7 overall and 6-3-5 in GLVC games, while earning a berth to both the GLVC Championship and NCAA postseason events.
Volleyball: With a cumulative GPA of 3.33, studying sports administration,
Kuchenbrod earns Bellarmine’s first-ever GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the program. In 2017, the junior repeated as the GLVC Libero of the Year after leading the league in total digs (777) and digs per set (6.76), the latter of which ranked fifth in the country. She was selected unanimously to the All-GLVC First Team, named to the D2CCA All-Region second-team and All-American third-team, and also earned AVCA honorable mention All-Region and All-America laurels. The Knights went 23-9 and 13-5 in the GLVC to earn the No. 4 seed in the league’s postseason tournament before garnering an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for their first-ever appearance in the national event. In addition, the Louisville native collected four GLVC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 1, 11, 18, and Nov. 6.
2017 GLVC FALL SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Men's Cross Country: Austin Nolan, Southern Indiana
Women's Cross Country: Erin Crone, Bellarmine
Football: Deshawn Jones, Missouri S&T
Men's Soccer: Nico Mueller, Lewis
Women's Soccer: Taylor Smith, Bellarmine
Volleyball: Jordyn Kuchenbrod, Bellarmine