UMAC Announces 2015 Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award Winners
Video Interview with Olivia Krejcarek, College of St. Scholastica
Video Interview with Sutton Rehwaldt, North Central University
ST. PAUL – The winners of the 2015 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award were announced on Thursday with North Central University’s Sutton Rehwaldt earning the men’s honor and the College of St. Scholastica’s Olivia Krejcarek claiming the women’s award. The honor, which is awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete from UMAC member-institutions, recognizes graduating seniors who demonstrate a healthy balance by achieving excellence in academics, leadership, and service while participating in intercollegiate athletics.
The NCAA Division III student-athlete is unique among intercollegiate athletes because, at Division III institutions, student-athletes receive no financial aid for athletic participation. Such institutions emphasize the overall quality of the educational experience and the successful completion of the student's academic program; athletic participation is an important part of that educational experience. Division III provides opportunities for student-athletes to be a part of numerous campus activities in addition to athletics, and these award recipients have maximized those opportunities. The UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award is presented to students who embody what it means to be an NCAA Division III athlete. Through this award, the UMAC recognizes the role athletics plays in developing leaders by rewarding athletes' excellence in the classroom as well as service to the community. The league's faculty athletic representatives nominate and vote on this honor.
Sutton Rehwaldt, a Biblical Studies major, was a three year member of the North Central men’s tennis team and a four year student-athlete and two year captain on the Rams men’s cross country team where he earned an All-Conference finish at the 2013 UMAC Cross Country Championship. Maintaining an impressive 3.90 grade point average over his collegiate career Rehwaldt was named to the UMAC Academic All-Conference list in each of his four years. In 2014 he was selected as North Central’s Hebrew Student of the Year. Rehwaldt was also recently named as the Institution for Biblical and Theological Studies Outstanding Graduate of the Year at North Central. In addition to his academic and athletic commitments Sutton was also a peer mentor for incoming freshmen on campus for three years. He serves on North Central’s Leadership Council of Captains, a group that meets to problem solve and plan team service projects and is a member of the campus and UMAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Rehwaldt also serves as a small group leader for teens at his church, a position he has held for all four year of his collegiate career and works in a supervisory position for campus security. Rehwaldt has been accepted into a competitive graduate program in ancient languages at the University of Minnesota.
Olivia Krejcarek, a Biology and Psychology double major and three sport student-athlete at the College of St. Scholastica, was a four year member of the
volleyball, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field teams. In her junior and senior years she was a captain on the Saints volleyball team. Krejcarek was named to the Dean’s List and earned UMAC Academic All-Conference honors in each of her semesters at St. Scholastica by maintaining a 3.84 grade point average throughout her career. In addition she has been the recipient of several academic scholarship awards. Olivia is also a member of the St. Scholastica Student Senate, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Pre-Med Club, Biology Club and Concert Choir. In addition, she served as a teaching assistant and as a volunteer note-taker for disabled students. This spring she had a paper on the isolation of bacteriophage accepted for publication in an online journal. Krejcarek also spent time throughout her career volunteering with community organizations dedicating time to reading in local elementary schools, working with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization, the local YMCA and food shelf, as a volunteer youth sports coach and shoveling sand for an accessibility path to Lake Superior. Krejcarzek will graduate with highest honors in May.
“The UMAC is honored to recognize Olivia and Sutton as our 2015 UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award honorees,” UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt said. “Both of these individuals have achieved exceptional accomplishments in athletics, academics, and in campus and community pursuits. Further, Olivia and Sutton have both demonstrated a high level of leadership capability and dedication to serving others through numerous avenues. Olivia and Sutton truly exemplify the NCAA Division III philosophy and UMAC core values as they both serve as great representatives of the type of student-athletes the UMAC is proud to feature.”
Rehwaldt and Krejcarek will receive a commemorative plaque with their name engraved on it. Together, they become the eighth group to win the UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award since its inception in 2008.
Past UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award winners:
2014 – Brendan Foss (University of Minnesota Morris), Krista Stoltz (University of Northwestern), Abby Fragodt (University of Minnesota Morris)
2013 – Brett Tester (College of St. Scholastica), Kali Cordes (University of Minnesota Morris)
2012 - Brady Giffith (Crown College), Joelle Pipal (Bethany Lutheran College)
2011 – Toby Peter (College of St. Scholastica), April Cook (Martin Luther College)
2010 – Nick Olson (Northwestern College), Maddy Gerber (University of Minnesota Morris)
2009 – Zach Marshall (Northwestern College), Eva Voss (Bethany Lutheran College)
2008 - Nathan Nass (Martin Luther College), Christopher Rubesch (College of St. Scholastica), Kristin Scislow (Bethany Lutheran College)
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The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference is comprised of nine full and five associate members located throughout the Midwest. Originally formed in 1972 as the Twin Rivers Conference, the league was renamed in 1983 to its current title. The UMAC is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division III level. Eighteen conference championships are recognized by the conference. The UMAC strives to enrich the collegiate experience of student-athletes by offering a range of highly competitive athletic opportunities. The primary focus of the UMAC is student-athletes, with an uncompromising commitment to athletic equity and to the primacy of student academic progress.
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