Contact: Chassidy Holloway, Associate Executive Director, holloway@midwestconference.org
 
GRINNELL, Iowa – Lake Forest College seniors Ashley Birnesser and Elliot Hull have been named recipients of the 2023-24 Ruth Peterson and Roy W. LeClere Awards, presented annually by the Midwest Conference (MWC). The awards recognize the female and male scholar-athletes who achieved the highest grade-point average during their junior years.
 
Ashley Birnesser is a mathematics and economics major from Lakewood, Colorado, and a four-year member of the Lake Forest College women’s soccer team. The midfielder started all 20 games for the Forester squad that finished at the top of the MWC standings with a 7-0-1 conference record (11-4-5) and swept both the regular season and tournament titles.
 
In her career, Birnesser played in 53 games, starting 29, assisted on six goals, and registered 14 shots with 10 on goal for a percentage of 0.714. 
 
Birnesser has earned Academic All-MWC honors each year the award was presented, received College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District recognition in 2022, and was named the MWC Elite 20 Award recipient for women’s soccer this season. 
 
Birnesser is the third Forester to win the Ruth Peterson Award, and this year marks the first time Lake Forest has had back-to-back winners.
 
Hull is an environmental studies major from Cincinnati, Ohio. In four seasons as a member of the Lake Forest men’s soccer team, Hull appeared in 57 contests and started 45. For his career, Hull scored 12 goals, including four game-winners, and assisted on six. He also put up 73 shots with 35 on goal for a percentage of 0.479.
 
In 2022, Hull and the Foresters swept the MWC men’s soccer regular season championship and tournament title. This season, the Lake Forest men’s squad finished third in the league standings with a 3-1-4 record (7-9-4 overall) before pulling off a pair of victories in the MWC Men’s Soccer Tournament to claim the title and make their second consecutive NCAA postseason appearance.
 
Hull was named Second Team All-MWC in 2021, is a two-time Academic All-MWC honoree, earned 2022 CSC Academic All-District honors, and is a back-to-back recipient of the MWC Men’s Soccer Elite 20 Award, winning it in 2022 and 2023. 
 
Hull is the fourth Forester to receive the Roy W. LeClere Award.
 
Ruth Peterson is the former Commissioner of the Midwest Athletics Conference for Women, who went on to serve as the Co-Commissioner of the MWC. Peterson was a Beloit College alum and employee who 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.