Southern Illinois senior Erin Diemer is one of 48 athletes that will compete in the NCAA West Preliminaries in College Station, Texas.
Diemer (photo), who recently won the pole vault competition at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, is seeded 33rd in the event that starts today and runs through Saturday.
Diemer, a Shelbyville graduate, is one of 16 Salukis to qualify for the NCAA meet.
Here is a look at other Shelby County athletes competing at the collegiate level.
Jill Anspaugh
The Shelbyville graduate was one of 32 Franklin College student-athletes to be named to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tom Bohlsen Academic All-Conference list.
In order to be named Academic All-Conference, a student-athlete must maintain at least a cumulative 3.5 grade point average and be varsity athletes.
The student-athlete also must have completed the equivalent of a full academic year, full-time enrolled at the institution to be eligible for the Academic All-Conference Award.
The award is named after Tom Bohlsen, who served as the HCAC’s first commissioner from 1998 to 2008.
A total of 214 student-athletes from the league’s 10 academic institutions earned the annual award.
Anspaugh was one of four Franklin women’s track and field athletes to be honored.
Dylan Harker
The Shelbyville graduate also was one of the 32 Franklin College athletes selected for the Academic All-Conference honor.
Harker is a member of Franklin’s men’s swimming and diving squad.
Natalie Weber
Twelve Franklin College student-athletes were named to the HCAC Christopher M. Ragsdale Sportsmanship Team for the spring 2021 season.
The spring’s list features both traditional seasonal sports as well as men’s soccer, women’s soccer, football, women’s golf and women’s tennis after each season was moved away from the fall due to the pandemic.
The HCAC All-Sportsmanship Award is named in honor of former HCAC Commissioner Christopher M. Ragsdale, who served as the commissioner from 2009 to 2018.
Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field/court of competition.
Nominees must have demonstrated consistently the values of respect and integrity in his or her daily participation in intercollegiate athletics.
Weber, who represented Franklin’s softball team, was joined on the Sportsmanship Team by Jacob Heuchan (baseball), Bobby Scaggs (football), Evan Graham (men’s golf), Mackenzie Black (women’s golf), Chyna Jackson (women’s lacrosse), Trevor Bray (men’s soccer), Mackenzie Yoder (women’s soccer), Cooper Davis (men’s tennis), Caitlin Fedor (women’s tennis), Elliot Davidson (men’s outdoor track and field) and Grace Esterline (women’s outdoor track and field).
