ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University student-athletes set a new school record on Monday (April 20) with 233 student-athletes receiving the Br. David Delahanty Award. The previous record of 210 was set in 2017.

The Delahanty Award recognizes student-athletes who maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher as of December 31, 2019. In total, 55.4 percent (233 of 420) of the student-athlete population received the award and that group totaled a cumulative GPA of 3.60.

"Academic excellence is at the core of our athletics department," Lewis Director of Athletics Dr. John Planek said. "From recruiting to graduation,  our coaches, faculty and staff work extraordinarily hard to ensure consistent academic success."

The Lewis women's cross country/track and field team had the most Delahanty Award winners with 25 recipients, which accounts for 11 percent of the 225 award winners. The Lewis women's golf team had seven of its eight members earn Delahanty Awards and the Lewis women's basketball team had 14 of its 16 members earn Delahanty Awards for the highest percentage of any Flyer squad.

Four student-athletes that received special recognition were Carly Graverson, Sidney Riemer, Ross McCormick and Ryan Van Loo. Graverson (women's basketball) and Riemer (women's soccer) shared the Senior Student-Athlete award on the women's side while McCormick (men's cross country/track and field) and Van Loo (men's volleyball) shared the Senior Student-Athlete award on the men's side.

Graverson is majoring in chemistry and Riemer is majoring in marketing. McCormick is majoring in accounting and Van Loo is majoring in business administration.

Br. David Delahanty, FSC, served as President of Lewis from June, 1982 until his untimely death in October, 1987. A personal advocate of physical fitness, Br. David encouraged Lewis students to achieve excellence not only in the academic sphere, but also in the athletic arena. Following his death, several members of Lewis' athletic teams inquired if they could wear black arm bands to mourn the popular president. After much consultation, it was decided that Br. David would have preferred a tribute to athletes based on their academic achievements. The first ceremony took place in 1988.