Skip To Main Content

UIndy Athletics

GLVC Scholar AOTY

General Ryan Thorpe, Associate A.D. for Communications

Seven Hounds named Winter/Spring GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS– The Great Lakes Valley Conference released its 2021-22 GLVC Winter and Spring Scholar-Athletes of the Year Friday, with the University of Indianapolis racking up a league-high seven recipients. The list of Greyhounds included three-time honoree Oliver Mast (men's golf), repeat-winner Andrew Sams (wrestling), as well as Catharina Graf (women's golf), Cade Hammond (men's swimming & diving), Abigail Lagos (women's lacrosse), Ben Nagel (men's track & field) and Anna Novikova (women's tennis).

Friday's septet joined fall honorees Dimitrios Karousos and Dana Youssef, bringing UIndy's number of 2021-22 GLVC Scholar-Athletes of the Year to nine – one shy of their own conference record of 10 honorees set in 2019-20. UIndy has now paced the conference in Scholar-Athletes of the Year in each of the last eight seasons, while Mast becomes just the third-ever Greyhound to garner three such nods.

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 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).


from GLVCsports.com:
 
Men's Golf: Mast became the second three-time GLVC Men's Golf Player of the Year in league history in 2022, finishing with a 71.8 scoring average this past season with a low-scoring round of 63, and is now a three-time Scholar Athlete of the Year as well. He achieved five top-five finishes and eight top-10 efforts, while carding 19 of his 35 rounds at par or better. The postseason brought plenty of awards for the graduate student from Fortville, Ind., including All-GLVC and All-Midwest Region by the GCAA. Postseason play for Mast was impressive too, as he finished runner-up in match play at the GLVC Championship, as well as at the NCAA Division II Midwest/Central Regional before concluding his career at the Division II Championships where he logged another top-10 finish in a tie for ninth place overall. Pursuing his master's degree in strategic leadership & design, Mast finished the semester with a 4.0 GPA to maintain a perfect 4.0 GPA overall as he was named Academic All-GLVC for the fifth time this week.
 
Women's Golf: For the ninth-straight year, a UIndy women's golfer is the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the sport as Graf is the newest Greyhound to win the award. The individual medalist at the 2022 GLVC Championship, Graf helped the Greyhounds win their 10th consecutive Conference crown. The junior from Germany averaged 76.7 last season with a low-round score of 70 twice and logged three top-five finishes, as she placed third in the NCAA East Regional to help the Greyhounds clinch another trip to the NCAA Division II Championships where she became the fifth UIndy women's golfer to win the NCAA Elite 90 Award. As a finance major, she finished last semester with a 4.0 GPA to keep her 4.0 cumulative GPA intact and named Academic All-GLVC.
 
Women's Tennis: Novikova earned her third-consecutive All-GLVC nod in 2022 on her way to being named the league's Player of the Year in the sport. Helping guide the Greyhounds to the National Semifinals last month, Novikova compiled records of 20-4 in No. 1 singles and 19-2 in No. 1 doubles. Doubles play was kind to the Ukraine product through the 2021-22 season, winning doubles matches in both the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals at the Division II Championships, as well as claiming the ITA Midwest Region Doubles title in the fall. Pursuing her MBA with a concentration in finance, Novikova achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA last semester to preserve her 4.0 cumulative GPA over the last eight semesters, earning First Team Academic All-District and All-America honors from CoSIDA as well as her fourth Academic All-GLVC selection. Having won the ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades prior, Noviakova is the fourth-straight Greyhound to win the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year laurels.
 
Men's Track & Field: The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track & Field Elite 90 Award winner, Nagel earned All-America status with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He also holds the GLVC and UIndy records for the 800 in both indoor and outdoor track this year, earning All-Region honors for the event during the indoor season. An Academic All-District First Team selection and Academic All-GLVC honoree, the Mooresville, Ind., native has achieved a 4.0 GPA all four years at UIndy, studying actuarial science and is in line for additional Academic honors yet to be announced this summer. Nagel brings the Scholar-Athlete of the Year back to the Greyhound program after Austin Hogan last won the award in 2019, the last of his three-straight honors.
 
Men's Swimming & Diving: Hammond was the 2022 National Champion on the one-meter board and earned All-America honors on the three-meter board with a fourth place finish this year. The junior from Brighton, Mich., was named CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America before being named Academic All-GLVC this week, studying criminal justice with a 3.46 GPA this past semester and a 3.69 GPA overall. After a second-place finish at the GLVC Championships in February, Hammond is only the third Greyhound to ever win Scholar-Athlete of the Year in program history and the first since Payton Staman in 2020.
 
Wrestling: Repeating as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Sams was an NCAA Finalist in 2022, earning a second-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships. Leading UIndy in tech falls (6), takedowns (70), near falls (7), and match points (267) in 2022, Sams was named First Team All-GLVC, was a Midwest Classic Champion, and NCAA Super Region 4 Champion during the course of his senior year. The native of Fairfield, Ohio, had a 4.0 GPA last semester to earn NWCA Scholar All-America honors, Academic All-District honors, and his fifth Academic All-GLVC selection, as his 4.0 GPA during the 2021-22 academic year gives him a 3.64 cumulative GPA.
 
Women's Lacrosse: Lagos filled the stat sheet in 2022, as she re-wrote the Conference and school record books on her way to helping the Greyhounds win their first National Title in program history. Earning a pair of Player of the Year awards from the IWLCA, Lagos took the Division II Player of the Year award and Division II Attacker of the Year awards home while being named First Team All-America by the coaches' association as well. The USA Lacrosse Magazine recognized Lagos, as well, naming her First Team All-American after she totaled 93 goals and 118 points in 2022 – both school and league records. The 2022 GLVC Attacker of the Year, First Team All-Conference selection, and Academic All-GLVC honoree, Lagos had a perfect 4.0 GPA last semester to improve her cumulative mark to 3.95 while obtaining her master's in sport management. Lagos joins her teammate Peyton Romig as the only Greyhounds to win the Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2020.
 
donatos 3

 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Austin Hogan

Austin Hogan

Throws
Senior
Payton Staman

Payton Staman

Diving
5' 11"
Senior
Andrew Sams

Andrew Sams

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Abigail  Lagos

#10 Abigail Lagos

A
5' 2"
Graduate Student
Peyton Romig

#20 Peyton Romig

M/DS
5' 5"
Graduate Student
Oliver Mast

Oliver Mast

Fifth Year
Catharina Graf

Catharina Graf

Junior
Anna Novikova

Anna Novikova

5' 9"
Senior
Cade Hammond

Cade Hammond

Diving
5' 7"
Junior
Ben Nagel

Ben Nagel

Distance
6' 0"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Austin Hogan

Austin Hogan

Senior
Throws
Payton Staman

Payton Staman

5' 11"
Senior
Diving
Andrew Sams

Andrew Sams

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Abigail  Lagos

#10 Abigail Lagos

5' 2"
Graduate Student
A
Peyton Romig

#20 Peyton Romig

5' 5"
Graduate Student
M/DS
Oliver Mast

Oliver Mast

Fifth Year
Catharina Graf

Catharina Graf

Junior
Anna Novikova

Anna Novikova

5' 9"
Senior
Cade Hammond

Cade Hammond

5' 7"
Junior
Diving
Ben Nagel

Ben Nagel

6' 0"
Senior
Distance
Skip Ad