Michael Ward of the Bradley cross country and track teams was named the male recipient of the Missouri Valley Conference's Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award, announced on Friday. The award recognizes the top all-around student-athlete in the conference in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence and service and leadership.
On the cross country course and track, Ward is one of the most successful runners in school history. He is a six-time conference champion with 14 combined all-conference performances between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. In each of the last two seasons, Ward swept the distance events at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track Championship, becoming just the third runner in conference history to win both the 3,000m and 5,000m titles in back-to-back seasons.