Valparaiso University men's cross country junior Karson Hollander (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Crystal Lake) received a high honor on Thursday as he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Hollander was also tabbed to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, while junior Eva Heimsoth (Ottawa, Ill. / Ottawa Township) and sophomore Kensington Black (Franklin, Ohio / Franklin Senior) represented the Beacons on the women's Scholar-Athlete squad.
 
Hollander, who owns a 3.65 cumulative grade point average in chemistry, has put together a banner season including a top-10 finish in the men's 8k at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, cementing First Team All-MVC status. He became just the third different Valpo runner to earn First Team All-MVC recognition and the fifth Valpo runner to earn first team all-conference honors in the program's Division-I history.
 
Hollander had top-10 finishes in each of his five races this season, hitting his PR in the 8k at the Bradley Pink Classic at 24:19.76 to better his own time that already ranked second in the program record book. He was the runner-up in his race at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invite and took third at the Western Michigan George Dales Invitational.
 
Hollander became the first Valpo runner to be named MVC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, although distance runner Alexander Bruno was named the 2020 Men's Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Hollander and his teammates will compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Ind. on Friday. The women's 6k will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 10k at 11 a.m. A link to live results is available on ValpoAthletics.com.