McLean County Times

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) announced the recipients of the annual Merle Chapman Leadership Award on Monday, May 20. This year's honorees from Illinois Wesleyan University are seniors Joshua Klein and Nora Robinson.

The award, named after longtime Millikin University football coach and athletics director Merle Chapman, was first introduced in the 2002-03 academic year. Chapman also served as the second commissioner of the CCIW from 1997 to 2002. The accolade is given to student-athletes who best exemplify Chapman's traits: loyalty, enthusiasm, leadership, sportsmanship, and a commitment to academic, athletic, and personal excellence.

Joshua Klein is recognized for his contributions as a two-sport athlete in football and men's track and field. He served as captain for both teams and co-president of IWU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Klein has been honored four times as an All-CCIW athlete in track and field events like the heptathlon and decathlon. In his senior year playing football, he achieved 56 tackles and ranked fourth in sacks for his team.

Nora Robinson excelled in women's cross country and track and field while serving as captain of her cross country team alongside her role as co-president of SAAC with Klein. She earned recognition as a three-year Academic All-CCIW honoree and received the CCIW RESPECT Award. This year she competed in three cross country races including the CCIW Championships, set a personal best at the Meet of Champions with a time of 21:16.24 in the 5000-meter run.

Other notable recipients include Fernando Munguia from Augustana for Men's Swimming & Diving, Keira Nelson for Women's Volleyball; Parker Raddatz from Carroll for Football; Anina Lee for Women's Swimming & Diving; Keegan Brumitt from Carthage for Men's Volleyball; Kate Sumner for Women's Soccer; Edmund Conroy from Elmhurst for Men's Soccer; Payton Schmidt for Women's Basketball; Grant Neuhaus from Millikin for Baseball; Bella Dudley for Women's Basketball; Sade Hill from North Central for Women's Wrestling; Jereme Ombogo from North Park for Men's Track & Field; Victoria Perry for Women's Basketball; Dolan Blair from Wheaton for Men's Track & Field; Paige Andrews for Softball.