Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
 
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference (MWC) is proud to announce the 2018-19 winners of the Ruth Peterson and Roy W. LeClere Awards. St. Norbert College golfer Megan Lau was named the Peterson Award winner, the third Green Knight to earn the honor, while tennis player Alex Vandenberg became the fifth Green Knight to earn the LeClere Award. This is the third time the two honorees have been from the same institution and the second time both are St. Norbert student-athletes.
 
The Peterson and LeClere Awards are presented to the MWC female and male student-athletes who posted the highest grade point averages during their junior years.  Ruth Peterson is the former Commissioner of the Midwest Athletic Conference for Women, who went on to serve as the Co-Commissioner of the MWC.  Peterson, a Beloit College alum and employee, passed away in October of 2006.  Roy W. LeClere was a collegiate sports enthusiast whose passion for the MWC led friends and co-workers to originally sponsor the award as a memorial in his honor.
 
Lau earns the Peterson Award after being a three-time Elite 20 Award recipient and Academic All-Conference performer. The De Pere, Wisconsin native will graduate in the spring of 2019 with a degree in music education. Lau improved her placing at the MWC Women’s Golf Championship every season concluding with a 22nd place finish this past fall.
 
Vandenberg received the men’s tennis Elite 20 Award last season and is a three-time Academic All-Conference honoree. The De Pere, Wisconsin native graduates this spring with a degree in accounting. On the court, Vandeberg took second at the No. 6 singles flight at the 2018 MWC Individual Tournament and reached the semifinals at No. 3 doubles.

Previous Winners