The GLVC conference office released the list of Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholars Wednesday. A record 554 athletes from across the conference made the list.

Named after Brother James Gaffney FSC, former President of Lewis University for over 27 years and two-term Chair of the GLVC Council of Presidents, the award is presented annually to student-athletes competing in GLVC-sponsored sports who achieve a 4.0 grade point average during the course of the academic year.

The GLVC has seen a significant rise in perfect 4.0 GPAs since the inception of the award in 2016-17, although it began tracking the unblemished marks in 2013-14 as part of the Academic All-GLVC process.  After seeing 114 students earn 4.0 GPAs in 2013-14 and 118 in 2014-15, the total spiked 52 percent to 179 in 2015-16, and then 54 percent to 275 in 2016-17 for the inaugural honor.  The total jumped to a record 298 students across 15 full-time member institutions in 2017-18, and the league maintained its impressive position with 292 from 14 full-time schools in 2018-19, before nearly doubling the previous record with an 89 percent across 16 schools this year.

Truman State had 44 athletes honored:

Tyler Blackington, Baseball, Truman State
Brendan Kelly, Baseball, Truman State
Cade McKnight, Men's Basketball, Truman State
Thomas Cormier, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Quinn Miller, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Jaden Barr, Football, Truman State
Spencer Newell, Football, Truman State
Josh Scheiderer, Football, Truman State
Michael Lonnberg, Men's Soccer, Truman State
Collin McDonough, Men's Soccer, Truman State
Zach Nay, Men's Soccer, Truman State
Robert Campbell, Men's Track & Field, Truman State
Brett Griesbaum, Men's Track & Field, Truman State
Blake Laird, Men's Track & Field, Truman State
Tiffany Davenport, Women's Basketball, Truman State
Maddie Re, Women's Basketball, Truman State
Sloane Totta, Women's Basketball, Truman State
Madeline Bostick, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Carly Garnett, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Emily Harl, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Shannon Jones, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Gemma Saathoff, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Truman State
Emily Ducaji, Women's Golf, Truman State
Kara Hunt, Women's Golf, Truman State
Molly Jones, Women's Golf, Truman State
Sydney Young, Women's Golf, Truman State
Amelia Coyne, Women's Soccer, Truman State
Allison Cross, Women's Soccer, Truman State
Hannah Liljegren, Women's Soccer, Truman State
Meredith McConnell, Women's Soccer, Truman State
Emily Eberwine, Softball, Truman State
Alyssa Rivera, Softball, Truman State
Lauren Massot, Women's Swimming, Truman State
Madison Nguyen, Women's Swimming, Truman State
Maddie Wilson, Women's Swimming, Truman State
Morgan Eby, Women's Tennis, Truman State
Kayla Peterson, Women's Tennis, Truman State
Carissa Bevans, Women's Track & Field, Truman State
Alayna Pipkin, Women's Track & Field, Truman State
Hannah Sells, Women's Track & Field, Truman State
Ashleigh Sharkey, Women's Track & Field, Truman State
Morgan Smith, Volleyball, Truman State
Sam Yancy, Volleyball, Truman State
Lindsay Woltering, Volleyball, Truman State

For full details on the award, the GLVC release is here: http://glvcsports.com/news/2020/6/22/all-academic-glvc-announces-2019-20-brother-james-gaffney-distinguished-scholars.aspx