INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced their recipients for the GLVC Fall Scholar Athlete of the Year award on Thursday, honoring UIndy with one of the six honors. For women's cross country, the honor was given to junior Lauren Bailey, her first time receiving the award. The new honor was also the first in UIndy's history for women's cross country.

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 GLVC member has the opportunity to nominate one individual from each sport, with nominees needed a cumulative grade point average that meets Academic All-America standards of 3.30. Freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible for the award. The voting is completed by each member institution's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR).

"This season I focused on embracing every opportunity I was given to spike up with my UIndy uniform,"  Bailey explained, "We're encouraged to follow our occupational dreams along with balancing athletics, including my teammates and loved ones here at UIndy."

Bailey earned her first All-America honor in the fall after placing ninth at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships, where she ran a final time of 20:27.9. Her 3:24-kilometer average is one of the best performances to date in school history, being the only Greyhound in the 21st-century to place in the top 10 at Nationals.

"She has an immense passion for her major, public health," head coach Brad Robinson described, "She takes the DII philosophy of 'Life in the Balance' to heart, and she fully understands discipline, priorities and time management."

Bailey and the track & field teams will take part in the GLVC Indoor Championships this weekend, looking for a team title for both the men and women. The championships will be held in the UIndy ARC, first event kicking off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29.

Click the link above to see all the GLVC Fall Scholar-Athletes of the Year.