KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA has announced 22 nominees for the 2015-16 Ken B. Jones Awards, which include two Missouri Western student-athletes.
Leonard Wester from the Griffon Football team and Jessie Thorup from the Griffon Volleyball team were the two Missouri Western nominees. Finalists for the awards will be revealed Friday, May 20.
The award, which is in its 23rd year, is named in honor of the man who served as the MIAA’s first full-time commissioner for 16 years. Jones retired in 1997 and passed away in May 2004. He was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame in the inaugural Class of 2010.
The 22 nominees will be paired down to three male and three female finalists that will be invited to Kansas City for the MIAA Awards Ceremony which will be held June 1 at the Kansas City Public Library-Plaza Branch. At the event one male and one female will be announced as the winners of the Ken B. Jones Award.
A 15-member panel of athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors – including a representative from each member institution – select the finalists.
Each nominee is judged in four areas: 2015-16 athletic accomplishments; career academic accomplishments; 2015-16 campus/community service; and career athletic and service achievements.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average as of Feb. 1, and must have completed at least their junior season of eligibility in the 2015-16 academic year.
Male Nominees
Travis Mays, Central Missouri (Golf)
Brent Wilson, Emporia State (Football)
Jon Inman, Fort Hays State (Wrestling)
Jesse Rall, Missouri Southern (Baseball)
Leonard Wester, Missouri Western (Football)
Eric Crawford, Northeastern State (Soccer)
Conner Crooker, Northwest Missouri (Basketball)
Josiah Gustafson, Pittsburg State (Men’s Basketball)
Christian Binger, Southwest Baptist (Baseball)
Kyle Carnahan, Washburn (Baseball)
Female Nominees
Heavin Warner, Central Missouri (Track and Field)
Katy Davis, Central Oklahoma (Volleyball)
Kathryn Flott, Emporia State (Basketball)
Beth Bohuslavsky, Fort Hays State (Basketball)
Yanique Ellington, Lincoln (Track and Field)
Jessie Thorup, Missouri Western (Volleyball)
Laramey Becker, Nebraska-Kearney (Basketball)
Baylee Price, Northeastern State (Golf)
Chloe Wichmann, Northwest Missouri (Track and Field)
Kylie Gafford, Pittsburg State (Basketball)
Natalie O’Keefe, Southwest Baptist (Track and Field)
Marina Quimby, Washburn (Softball)
— MWSU Athletics —