Senior Aleeka Gentzler (Paxton, Ill./Paxton-Buckley-Loda) took the night’s top honor – the Fighting Scots Leadership Award – at Monmouth College’s sixth annual Fighting Scots Awards presented by MTC Communications.
One of four nominees, Gentzler won the coaches’ voting for her award, which recognizes overall leadership in both athletics and academics. An education major and member of the track and field team, Gentzler is a two-time conference high jump champion and founding member of the Teachers Allied with Rural Towns and Neighborhood Schools (TARTANS) program, the educational studies department’s program to help rural and small district schools meet today’s challenges.
“Aleeka has grown tremendously as a team leader during her time at Monmouth,” wrote track coach Roger Haynes in his nomination letter. “Perhaps her greatest contribution to the Monmouth campus is as a founding member of TARTANS.”
Gentzler thanked the many people who helped her along the way.
“Monmouth has given me so many opportunities to excel in the classroom and on the track,” she said. “Nothing would be possible without the support of my family, friends, professors and Coach Haynes. The past four years at Monmouth have been nothing but exceptional.”
Dual sport student-athlete Laura Dulee (Bloomington, Ill./U-High) took home the top women’s honor, the Kim Mead Outstanding Female Athlete Award, which honors a senior female who is an all-around student-athlete and maintains good academic standing while showing leadership and responsibility. The business and public relations double major also doubles up athletically as a member of the volleyball and softball teams. In nominating Dulee for the award, retiring softball coach John Goddard touted Dulee’s athletic and academic diversity as a Lincoln Laureate finalist and a member and former president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Dulee thanked her coaches and teammates for their support over the past four years.
“They make Monmouth such a good place to be and I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity (to attend Monmouth),” she said while thanking the entire athletic department.
The women’s basketball team claimed two honors: Breakthrough Athlete or Team and Championship Performance. On the verge a year ago, the team broke through the barrier this season, claiming the Midwest Conference Tournament title and earning just the second trip to the NCAA tournament in program history while winning a school-record 21 games to claim the Breakthrough Award. The victory in the title game – Monmouth’s third win of the season over Ripon – earned the Championship Performance Award after the squad rallied from a double digit halftime deficit and shot 60 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter to claim the league crown.
Returning from what could have been a career-ending injury earned senior McCauley Johnston the Comeback Athlete of the Year honor. Following major surgery after an injury wiped out his junior year of football, Johnston returned to the team in 2019 and helped the team to another Midwest Conference title, the third of Johnston’s career.
Four games battled for Upset of the Year, but it was the women’s soccer team’s win over rival Knox in the Midwest Conference Tournament title game that took the honor. The win in the penalty kick shootout after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer upended the defending champion Prairie Fire and earned Monmouth’s women their first ever trip to the NCAA tournament. The Scots had entered the game winless in their prior five games against their rivals.
Another Midwest Conference championship claimed the Moment of the Year honor. “The Drive,” football’s game-winning 90-yard drive with 55 seconds left and no timeouts took the honor. Freshman Carter Boyer came off the bench to complete five straight passes, helping the Scots claim their third league title in five years under head coach Chad Braun.
All-American dual-sport student-athlete and NFL prospect Joe Krall claimed Monmouth’s Individual Performance of the Year title. A near unanimous selection for the award, Krall earned All-American status as an offensive lineman and was poised to win his second track All-American honor, qualifying for the NCAA Championships with the nation’s second-best weight throw mark before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the track and field season. Krall has received interest from a variety of NFL teams.
Over 200 other athletic and academic honors were awarded during the ceremony, which originated from the Kane Room in the college’s Huff Athletic Center due to the pandemic and social distancing guidelines.
The ceremony was aired via the Monmouth College Athletics Facebook page and may be replayed on the Monmouth College YouTube channel.
**Report Courtesy of Monmouth College**
