Ben Weaver and Susannah Bennett - Spring 2023 Jack Swartz Awards

Thunder spring student-athletes receive academic recognition from the CCIW

6/14/2023 2:18:00 PM

Photos courtesy of Mike Hudson and Ben Gajewski

PICTURED ABOVE: Susannah Bennett and Ben Weaver have been selected as Wheaton's Jack Swartz Award honorees for the spring semester.

Naperville, Ill. – The conference office has recognized Wheaton student-athletes from each spring sport for their efforts in the classroom this past semester. The 2023 CCIW Dave Wrath Academic All-Conference Team for the spring season includes 76 Wheaton student-athletes. The Academic All-Conference team consists of sophomores, juniors and seniors from CCIW member institutions who achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher.

The Dave Wrath Academic All-Conference award is named after the former Augustana College athletics administrator. Wrath retired in June of 2021 as the Associate Director of Athletics for Media and Alumni Relations, serving the Vikings for 40 years. In addition to his duties at Augustana, Wrath served as the CCIW Sports Information Director from 1996 to 2005 and was instrumental in establishing the CCIW's Academic All-Conference Program in 2005. The 2021-22 academic year marked the first year that the award was named after Wrath.

Wheaton's Academic All-CCIW honorees for Spring 2023
Baseball	Softball	Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Men's Golf	Men's Tennis	Women's Outdoor Track & Field

Two Thunder student-athletes have earned recognition as the school's spring recipients of the Jack Swartz Award. Susannah Bennett of the women's track and field team is Wheaton's female honoree, and Ben Weaver of the Thunder baseball team is Wheaton's male recipient. Bennett recently graduated with a degree in computer science, and Weaver, a fellow 2023 graduate, received his degree in Christian Formation & Ministry.

This marks the second-consecutive Swartz Award recognition for Bennett, who was also named the Winter 2022-23 female honoree for Wheaton. This is the first Swartz Award honor for Weaver.

The Jack Swartz Award is given to one male and one female athlete from each conference school at the conclusion of each of the three athletic seasons (fall, winter and spring). The honor is given by the CCIW, and each of the nine schools in the league picks their own representatives. The winners from each school must earn a varsity letter in his/her sport and have a grade point average of at least 3.50. The award is named after the late Jack Swartz, a former Wheaton student-athlete, coach and athletic administrator who served as the first Commissioner of the CCIW until his death in 1998.