ST. LOUIS - Sixteen student-athletes have earned a spot on the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer scholar-athlete first team and honorable mention team, announced by the league office today. The 14-member first team is highlighted by four two-time first team honorees, as well as six student-athletes with a 4.00 GPA. Bradley's Clark Emerson is making his third appearance on the first-team and has a 4.00 GPA in Finance.
Evansville boasts a league-high four members on the first team, while Bradley and Central Arkansas have three selections and Drake and Missouri State earned two honorees. Four honorees are repeat first-team selections from a season ago, including Bradley's Clark Emerson and Jacob Taylor and Evansville's Zac Blaydes and Ian McGrath.
Of the 16 players named to this year's team, six recently earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors (Emerson, Hiebert, Holmes, Knutson, Merideth and Priestley). The Valley's scholar-athlete team is voted on by the league's soccer sports information directors.
The criteria for the all-MVC honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches or played in the league tournament. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.
2017 Scholar-Athlete First Team
| Name |
School |
Year |
GPA |
Major |
| Zac Blaydes@ |
Evansville |
Jr. |
3.83 |
Exercise Science |
| Falk Dennert |
Bradley |
Sr. |
3.86 |
International Business |
| Clark Emerson@# |
Bradley |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Finance |
| Kyle Hiebert |
Missouri State |
So. |
4.00 |
Accounting |
| Chris Holmes% |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Health Services Administration |
| Colton Jackson |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Accounting |
| Matthew Keller |
Evansville |
Sr. |
3.99 |
Accounting & Finance |
| Daltyn Knutson |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
3.95 |
Finance |
| Ryan Merideth |
Drake |
Jr. |
3.86 |
Molecular Biology |
| Ian McGrath@ |
Evansville |
Sr. |
3.35 |
Athletic Training |
| Liam Priestley% |
Missouri State |
Sr. |
3.52 |
Finance |
| Jacob Taylor@ |
Bradley |
Sr. |
3.61 |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Jake Taylor |
Drake |
Gr. |
4.00 |
MBA |
| Simon Waever |
Evansville |
So. |
4.00 |
Business |
@First Team in 2016; % Honorable Mention in 2016; # First Team in 2015
2017 Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention Team
| Name |
School |
Year |
GPA |
Major |
| Elliot Collier |
Loyola |
Sr. |
3.37 |
Exercise Science |
| Alex Peterson |
Drake |
So. |
3.95 |
Finance & Marketing |