ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri Valley Conference has awarded over 3,000 student athletes academic honors for their effort over the 2022-23 school year, the league office announced. Various Drake athletes earned recognition at three different levels, the MVC Honor Roll, the MVC Board of Directors Academic Excellence Award, and the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.
Eight Bulldogs across seven teams were granted the Board of Directors Academic Award. Nicholas Pittman (men's golf), Matija Matic (men's tennis),
Sarah Beth Gueldner (women's basketball), Kiernan Blanchard (rowing), Mary Jonas (rowing),
Delaney Goertzen (women's soccer),
Rebecca Ehn (women's tennis), and
Chandler Haight (women's track and field), represented Drake with the esteemed award.
The Board of Directors Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.8 cumulative grade point average, participation in athletics a minimum of two years, and the student-athlete must be within 18 hours of graduation (by the end of the Spring 2023 semester).
105 Drake student-athletes from 15 different teams garnered the Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award. The Drake women's cross-country team and men's soccer team each boasted 12 members on the Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award list.
In total, 1014 MVC student-athletes received the league's Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award, which requires a minimum grade point average of 3.5 for each of the previous two semesters, a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average, and participation in athletics a minimum of two years.
Missouri Valley Conference also announced its 2022-23 Honor Roll, which recognizes academic achievement of student-athletes. To qualify for the Valley Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have recorded a mini- mum 3.2 grade point average for a specified term (Fall 2022/Spring 2023), must have been a member of an athletics team, and must have been enrolled full time during the term they earned the honor. Numerous Bulldogs from around the athletic department were included on that list.