NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) announced the Merle Chapman Leadership Award recipients on Wednesday.

This award is named after the former Millikin Athletics Director and the CCIW's second commissioner, who served in that capacity from 1997-2002. The award identifies the student-athletes that best exemplify the traits that Chapman displayed and encouraged during his three-plus decades of service as teacher, coach and mentor to the athletes, coaches and administrators of the CCIW. Those traits are loyalty, enthusiasm, leadership, sportsmanship, and a commitment to academic, athletic and personal excellence.
 
Each CCIW institution selects one male and one female from their Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) who participates in a CCIW-sponsored sport. The winners were given certificates and recognized by the institutional SAAC advisors during a conference-wide workshop and luncheon on Wednesday.

2018-19 Merle Chapman Award Winners

Augustana
Miranda Sharp (Women's Golf)
Daniel Artman (Men's Soccer)

Carroll
Claudia Bleimund (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
Griffin Idelman (Football)

Carthage
Bailey Gilbert (Women's Basketball)
Logan Engberg (Men's Cross Country/Track & Field)

Elmhurst
Brittany Reinhart (Women's Soccer)
Nathan Tovell (Baseball)

Illinois Wesleyan
Grainne Kelly (Women's Lacrosse)
Brady Rose (Men's Basketball)

Millikin
Taylor Hartman (Women's Soccer)
Isaac Hopper (Men's Soccer)

North Central
Hailey Dammeier (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
Jared Collier (Men's Soccer)

North Park
Kylee O'Connor (Softball)
Anthony DiNardo (Baseball)

Wheaton
Ellie Brown (Volleyball)
Caleb Selk (Baseball)
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2017-18 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,100 academic all-conference recipients, 15 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 28 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.