Men's Track and Field | 7/18/2016 1:41:00 PM

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NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan's Max Leonard was named the 2016 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Man of the Year on Monday.
 
Leonard, a member of the Titans' track & field team, was chosen through a voting process conducted by the CCIW Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. He was chosen among a group of four other nominees including Augustana's Ben Ryan (basketball), Carthage's Jarrett Simonson (golf), North Central's Eric Knaperek (football) and Wheaton's Matt Snebold (football).
 
A native of Glenview, Illinois and Glenbrook South High School, Leonard earned a 3.93 grade-point average while majoring in Physics and Economics at Illinois Wesleyan. He was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America First Team, as well as the ODE Economics Honor Society, PME Mathematics Honor Society and a Phi Betta Kappa initiate.
 
Leonard won the national title in the discus (53.55 meters) at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The national title was the Titans' first since 2000. Additionally, Leonard placed first in the discus (52.84 meters) and fourth in the shot put (15.41 meters) at the 2016 CCIW Outdoor Championship, as well as fourth in the weight throw (16.46 meters) and seventh in the shot put (14.73 meters) at the 2016 CCIW Indoor Championship.  
 
Leonard was the Associate Editor of the Undergraduate Economic Review during his junior and senior years and was a research honors recipient in Economics as a senior. He was also a teacher's assistant, tutor and an undergraduate Physics researcher as a sophomore.     
 
The CCIW Man of the Year award honors senior male student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

The award was established in 2008 to recognize the conference's top male student-athlete, similar to the NCAA's recognition of its top female student-athlete, which the CCIW participates in by submitting a female nominee at the end of each academic year.

CCIW Man of the Year
2015-16 – Max Leonard – Illinois Wesleyan (Track & Field)
2014-15 – David Voland – Augustana (Track & Field)
2013-14 – Erik Westerberg – Augustana (Football)
2012-13 – Tim Ahlberg – North Park (Soccer)
2011-12 – Josh Startup – North Park (Football)
2010-11 – Steve Djurickovic – Carthage (Basketball)
2009-10 – Alex Knobloch – North Central (Cross Country/Track & Field)
2008-09 – Ben Youel – North Central (Wrestling)
2007-08 – Adam Johnson – North Central (Wrestling)
 
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), 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 2015-16 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,600 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 36 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and over 100 all-Americans.