IRVING, Texas – American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco announced Wednesday that Wichita State track and field standout
Chonnor Ludolph and Temple cross country/track and field athlete Michelle Joyce have been chosen as the winners of the 2021-22 Commissioner's Postgraduate Leadership Awards.
The awards, which are voted on by faculty athletics representatives from around the league, are given annually to one male and one female student-athlete from an American-sponsored sport who have been admitted to a degree-granting or professional program for the following year and who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, athletic performance and depth of commitment to service within the institution or the community.
Ludolph and Joyce will each receive a $5,000 scholarship, which may be applied to postgraduate study.
Ludolph becomes the first Wichita State student-athlete to earn a Commissioner's Postgraduate Leadership Award. He helped the Shockers to the 2022 American Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field title by virtue of a fourth-place finish in the decathlon.
The Leroy, Kan. native graduated from Wichita State with a 3.87 grade-point average while majoring in exercise science. He earned Dean's List accolades in every semester at WSU and has been accepted into the school's physical therapy doctoral program. Ludolph served as an ICAA science tutor, was the lead lab and research assistant in WSU's Human Performance Lab and was a regular volunteer for the school's Read With the Shockers program.
Past Winners of the Commissioner's Postgraduate Leadership Award:
2013-14
Zach Willis, Baseball, Memphis
Jackie Wattles, Volleyball, UConn
2014-15
Keenan Joyner, Track and Field, Memphis
Julie Kernen, Softball, Tulsa
2015-16
Julien Dodu, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
Hannah Emnett, Rowing, Tulsa
2016-17
Kirk Smith, Cross Country/Track and Field, Tulsa
Juliana Madzia, Cross Country/Track and Field, Cincinnati
2017-18
Chandler Klemm, Soccer, Memphis
Vendela Norman, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
2018-19
Austin Allen, Tennis, East Carolina
Enna Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
2019-20
Din Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
Stasia Mallin, Soccer, Memphis
2020-21
Alec Trela, Baseball, Memphis
Jeni Griffin, Swimming & Diving, Tulane
2021-22
Chonnor Ludolph, Track and Field, Wichita State
Michelle Joyce, Cross Country/Track and Field, Temple
