Illinois Wesleyan seniors Katelyn Draths and Nick Nikolich are the school's winners of the the winners of the Merle Chapman Leadership Award in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, as announced  on Wednesday, April 21.

Draths, who is a member of the IWU women's cross country and track and field teams, finished 13th in the 2009 CCIW cross country championships with a time of 24:40.6. She currently has the lowest 10,000 meter time for the 2010 outdoor track season with a time of 38:47.30.
An accounting major who attended Regina Dominican High School, Katelyn is the daughter of Bob and Jean Draths of Glenview, Ill.

Nikolich, a linebacker, earned the CCIW "Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year" honor and was a second team Division III All-American as he led the Titans with 84 total tackles (60 solo) and had 6.5 quarterback sacks for -74 yards. He also recovered a fumble. He finished his career with 258 tackles, good for 10th all-time at IWU. He was the "Most Valuable Defensive Player" on the 2009 Titan conference championship football  team.
A finance major who attended Libertyville High School, he is the son of Luka and Marina Nikolich of Libertyville, Ill.

The award, which began during the 2002-03 academic year, is named after the longtime football coach/athletics director at Millikin University who served as the CCIW's second-ever commissioner, holding that position from 1997-2002.

The award identifies the student-athletes from the eight member institutions that best exemplify the traits that Chapman displayed and encouraged during his three-plus decades of service as teacher, coach and mentor to the athletes, coaches and administrators of the CCIW. Those traits are loyalty, enthusiasm, and commitment to academic, athletic and personal excellence, leadership and sportsmanship.

Each school is allowed to name one male and one female student-athlete. The winners were honored on Monday, April 19 at the CCIW's year-end Student-Athlete Advisory Committee luncheon.

2009-10 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Merle Chapman Award Winners

Augustana
Valerie Bustle - Track & Field (International Business & Spanish major)
Blaine Westemeyer - Football (Biochemistry & Pre-Medicine major)

Carthage
Karen Jackson - Cross Country/Track & Field (Biology major)
Scott Danly - Baseball (Business Administration & Marketing major)

Elmhurst
Janelle Thompson - Volleyball (Political Science major)
Blair Kessler - Football (Finance major)

Millikin
Kaley Wittrock - Swimming (Elementary Education major)
Keith Burczak - Football (Biology & Pre-Medicine major)

North Central
Carolyn Sutphen - Cheer (Marketing major)
Joe Norton - Wrestling (Sport Management major)

North Park
Mallory Bieritz - Volleyball/Softball (Elementary Education major)
Alan Hall - Football (Business Accounting major)

Wheaton
Kelly Brooks - Basketball (Applied Health & Science major)
Tim McCrary - Basketball (Business & Economics and Christian Formation & Ministry major)