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GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference (MWC) is proud to announce the 2017-18 winners of the Ruth Peterson and Roy W. LeClere Awards. Lake Forest softball player Kat Beall was named the Peterson Award winner, the first Forester to earn the honor, while Illinois College track & field athlete Sean Kisch became the third Blueboy to earn the LeClere Award. The Peterson and LeClere Awards are presented to the MWC female and male student-athletes who posted the highest grade-point averages during their junior years. 

Ruth Peterson is the former Commissioner of the Midwest Athletic Conference for Women, who went on to serve as the Co-Commissioner of the MWC.  Peterson, a Beloit College alum and employee, passed away in October of 2006.  Roy W. LeClere was a collegiate sports enthusiast whose passion for the MWC led friends and co-workers to originally sponsor the award as a memorial in his honor.

As a shortstop and second baseman, Beall helped lead the Foresters to three MWC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years. She was named MWC Position Player of the Week for March 13, 2017 after reaching base safely in five of seven plate appearances with two doubles and four runs batted in. The Rockton, Illinois native graduated from Lake Forest this past spring as a finance and math double major. Beall was a four-time Academic All-MWC honoree as well as back-to-back-to-back MWC Elite 20 Award winner from 2016-18.

For the Blueboys’ track & field team, Kisch was a standout in the pole vault. A native of Elgin, Illinois, Kisch was a five-time All-MWC performer in the pole vault and never finished lower than fifth in the event at the MWC Championships. The biology major graduated last spring as a two-time MWC Elite 20 Award winner and an eight-time Academic All-MWC honoree.

Previous Winners