Lily DeSpain of Missouri State (women's swimming & diving); Avery Nowak of Belmont (women's soccer); John Stillman of Bradley (men's golf); and Tijana Zlatanovic of Illinois State (women's tennis) have been named 2024 Missouri Valley Conference postgraduate scholarship winners.  The Missouri Valley Conference Faculty Athletics Representatives Committee voted to award postgraduate scholarships to the four student-athletes, due to their exemplary academic and athletic performances.  Each will receive a $5,000 postgraduate scholarship from the Conference.

2024 MVC Postgraduate Scholarship Winners (PDF)

DeSpain (Springdale, Ark.) was the recipient of the 2024 Missouri State Outstanding Female Athlete Award, presented annually to the university's top female athletic performer.  She won a team-high five gold medals and also earned a bronze at the 2024 MVC Championships to lead the Bears to an eighth straight conference title. She placed first in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:12.19, MVC Record), first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:48.23, MVC season best), first in the 400 IM (4:14.92, MVC Record), first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.89, MVC season best), first in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:18.87, MVC Record) and third in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.50). For the season, she won 12 individual events and earned All-MVC first-team laurels while also being named as the 2024 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  She maintained a 3.78 cumulative grade point average while majoring in cell & molecular biology.

Nowak (Oviedo, Fla.) graduated from Belmont with a 3.97 cumulative GPA in biochemistry and molecular biology. She is the school's all-time leader in matches played (82), starts (79), and was named to the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team. She started in all 19 matches for the Bruins this past season, recorded a team-high four assists, and was named to the 2023 MVC All-Tournament team. Nowak was also a member of the 2023 MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team, earned her second career College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team selection in 2023, and she received the MVC Board of Directors Academic Award.  She will be pursuing a physician assistant master’s degree in medicine at Trevecca Nazarene University.

Stillman (Oak Lawn, Ill.)  played for the Bradley men's golf team for five seasons, earning MVC Scholar-Athlete second-team recognition in 2024 after graduating in May with a perfect 4.0 grade point while earning his Master of Business Administration degree. Stillman earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention for the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons. He also maintained a 4.0 as an undergraduate political science major and economics minor and was named the top outstanding graduate in the Department of Political Science. Stillman appeared in eight of the nine tournaments for the Braves this past year and posted a stroke average of 77.4. He served on Bradley's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since 2019 and was the Braves Council Vice President in 2022-23 and President in 2023-24.  Very active in volunteerism in the Peoria community, Stillman also served on several campus organizations including the B.O.L.D. Leadership Institute, Equity and Diversity Committee, and the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee.  Stillman was recognized by the Bradley Athletics Department for his outstanding contributions and service, earning both the Coach Joe Stowell Award and the Megan Fong Inspiration Award this spring. He will be attending law school beginning this fall.

Zlatanovic (Salzburg, Austria) will graduate from Illinois State in August.  She holds a 3.82 cumulative grade point average while majoring in exercise science-health and human performance.  She intends to attend graduate school at ISU while pursuing a master's degree in psychology of sport and physical activity.  A 2023-24 team captain, Zlatanovic served as a member of ISU's and the MVC's SAAC in 2022-23.  She was the league's 2020-21 Freshman and Singles Player of the Year and earned MVC All-Select honors in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and was a three-time all-MVC choice at No. 1 doubles.  A two-time ITA Scholar Athlete and three-time MVC scholar-athlete first-team selection, Zlatanovic recorded a career mark of 77-49 in singles competition and a 78-40 mark in doubles.

To be eligible for consideration, recipients must have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.40, participated with distinction in a Missouri Valley Conference championship sport for at least two seasons at the nominating institution and must graduate from their institutions within 18 months following selection at the spring meetings of the Faculty Athletics Representative Committee.  

Also, the recipients must be accepted for postgraduate studies at an institution of higher learning at the time of receipt of the scholarship.  And, the recipients must have completed eligibility for participation in intercollegiate athletics in the academic year in which nominated.