WAVERLY, Iowa - Wartburg Athletics has announced its department awards for the 2019-20 academic season, awards selected by the faculty athletic committee along with coaches and the athletic committee.
Voecks Award - Kolin Schulte (Anamosa, Iowa)
The Voecks Award is given to the outstanding senior male student-athlete selected by the faculty athletic committee. The selection is based on athletic achievement, scholarship and attitude.
Schulte capped off his career on the Wartburg football team with his second consecutive CoSIDA Academic All-America award in 2019, named to the First-team. He guided the top scoring offense in the conference and solidified his name in the Wartburg record book, totaling a single-season program record with 19 receiving touchdowns while earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team.
A Biochemistry major, Schulte maintained 3.9 GPA at Wartburg and was a three-time Academic All-Conference member and was named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society.
Chellevold Award - Emma Gerdes (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
The Chellevold Award is given to the outstanding senior female student-athlete selected by the faculty athletic committee. The selection is based on athletic achievement, scholarship and attitude.
Gerdes helped guide Wartburg women's basketball to its fourth consecutive conference regular season and tournament titles during the 2019-20 season, finishing her career as one the best to wear the Orange & Black. Gerdes became the program's all-time games played leader (120) this season, starting all 29 games and averaging 11 points and 4.9 assists per game. Ranking among the top 10 leaders list at Wartburg in several categories, Gerdes became the program's all-time games played leader (120) this season and also ranks first in single-season free throw percentage (88.1), single-season steals (84), and career free throw percentage (82.9).
She started in all 29 games in her final season, averaging 11 points and 4.9 assists per game en route to earning the American Rivers Conference MVP for the second-straight year. In addition, Gerdes earned her second consecutive WBCA Honorable Mention All-American and was a D3hoops.com All-American Honorable Mention. Gerdes will graduate from Wartburg with a degree in Exercise Science and a cumulative GPA of 3.48.
Hertel Award - Joe Freiburger (Jr., Holy Cross, Iowa) & Carina Collet (Jr., Verona, Ill.)
The Hertel Award is presented to male and female
student-athletes that have won varsity letters in two sports. The recipients are selected by the coaching staff and athletic committee.
Freiburger and Collet are both three-year members of the Wartburg cross country and track & field teams and were both named American Rivers Conference MVP's during the 2019 cross country season, leading the Knights to conference titles.
The runner-up at the Central Region Championships in which the Wartburg men took first place, Freiburger earned All-Region honors and then placed 22nd at the NCAA Championships to collect All-American laurels. During the indoor track season, Freiburger won both the 3,000 & 5,000-meter runs at the A-R-C Indoor Championships, qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5K and Distance Medley Relay, and was named USTFCCCA All-Region in three events.
Collet also placed second at the Central Regionals and went on to receive All-American status at the NCAA Championships with an 11th place finish while the Knights earned a 6th place team finish - the best finish for the Wartburg women since 2012. At the A-R-C Indoor Championships, Collet was the 5K runner-up and place third in the 3K, earning All-Region honors in both events and qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 5K.
Additionally, Freiburger and Collet were both selected to the USTFCCCA and A-R-C All-Academic Teams.
