CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) is proud to announce that former Wartburg College volleyball player Bailey Wilson (West Des Moines, Iowa / West Des Moines Valley) has been named the Johanna Olson Iowa Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2014-2015 academic year.

“While I take pride in the Iowa Conference every day of my working life, the announcement of our Scholar-Athlete awards is particularly rewarding." said Iowa Conference Commissioner Chuck Yrigoyen. "Congratulations, and thank you, to Bailey and Daniel. You are shining-light examples of everything our conference and Division III represents. It’s also a day we honor the memory of both Johanna Olson and Duane Schroeder; legendary figures in our league’s history who, like the award-winners and award-nominees, will never be forgotten."
 

---

---

Wilson graduated in 2015 with a 4.0 grade point average while double majoring in math and economics and minoring in spanish. She is the definition of Division III student-athlete, earning First Team All-Iowa Conference (2012, 2013, 2014), IIAC Volleyball MVP (2014), CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America (2015), IIAC All-Academic team (2012, 2013, 2014), president of multiple honor societies, and Student Senator (2013, 2014, 2015). In addition, she has spent numerous hours volunteering in the Waverly and Des Moines area. Since graduation, Wilson has been working at Nationwide Insurance as a pricing analyst.

"Bailey Wilson is the finest young person, committed student, and athlete that I have ever coached," stated Wartburg co-head volleyball coach Doug Frazell. "Simply put, she was a shining example to those around our program as well as other sports on campus for what it meant to be a Division III student-athlete."

During Wilson's four years in a Knight uniform, the team won two Iowa Conference Regular Season Championships, two IIAC Tournament titles and made two trips to the NCAA tournament. A two-year team captain, she earned national honors as an AVCA All-Region selection in 2013 and 2014 while also earning the distinction of being the Iowa Conference nominee for NCAA Women of the Year.  

"In the classroom, Bailey was one of the most engaged and conscientious students I have taught at Wartburg, she is dedicated to perfecting her understanding of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. She works well in groups and individually, and her research abilities, classroom engagement, and ability to communicate effectively were among the best in our program," noted Associate Professor of Spanish, Zak K. Montgomery, PhD.

As decorated as Wilson was on the court, her classroom honors are quite extensive as well. She was named to the Dean's List for 7 of her 8 semesters at Wartburg and received the Dean's List cord as one of the top 40 GPA's in the graduating class. She was a member of Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Chi, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Sigma Delta Pi, and Delta Mu Delta and recipient of the Outstanding Senior in Mathematics. 

"Bailey is a highly intelligent hard working student, as should be evident from her 4.0 GPA obtained while pursuing an extremely challenging curriculum. At no point in her college career did I see Bailey overwhelmed or uncomfortable with the amount of work expected of her. She was very organized and completely capable of meeting all her obligations, added Professor of Mathematics Dr. Brian Birgen."

Wilson made a lasting impact on the Waverly community by teaching leadership lessons/team building to middle school aged children, reading to first and second graders twice a month each fall, volunteering at the Cystic Fibrosis walk, volunteering her time at the Go Hawk Go Walk 5K, and making tie blankets for at risk youth with Blankets of Love. On campus, she served as President of Kappa Mu Epsilon and Sigma Delta Pi as a senior, spent her junior year as treasurer of Phi Eta Sigma, and spent three years on the Student Senate. 

On the court, Wilson played in 523 of a possible 524 sets as a four-year starter for the Knights. She ranks first all-time at Wartburg in attack percentage (.351), fourth in block assists (313), fifth in total blocks (426), fifth in matches played (146), sixth in block solo (113), and seventh in kills (1,268). She also won the Chellevold Award for Outstanding Female Senior Student-Athlete. 

Wilson and this year’s male honoree will be honored in May at the Conference’s annual awards banquet.
 
Also nominated for the 2014-15 Johanna Olson IIAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year was Central College women's basketball player Rachel Evans (Fort Dodge, Iowa / Fort Dodge). 
 
About the IIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards
The IIAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year Award was first presented in December 2001 for the 2000-01 academic year. To be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete shall have graduated or exhausted their athletic eligibility during the academic year for which the award is given. She must have demonstrated a high level of accomplishment and achievement in a varsity sport, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale), and show evidence of scholarly achievements, community service involvement and leadership. Originally named for longtime Wartburg sports information director and Iowa Conference secretary-treasurer Duane Schroeder, the women’s award was renamed in December 2013 in honor and memory of inaugural winner Johanna Olson (see below).
 
Previous recipients of the IIAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year include Johanna Olson (2000-01, Luther College track and cross country), Brianne Schoonover (2001-02, Wartburg College basketball and track), Jessica Jensen (2002-03, Buena Vista University basketball and track), Raegan (Schultz) Wagner (2003-04, Central College volleyball and track), Amy Ernst (2004-05, Coe College softball), Katie Pederson (2005-06, Central College volleyball and track),  Abby Erion (2006-07, Loras College track & field), Kristy Upah (2007-08, Coe College volleyball), Kelsey Steffens (2008-09, Wartburg College volleyball and track & field), Hannah Baker (2009-10, Wartburg College track & field), Jill (Ziskovsky) Halcomb (2010-11, Central College track & field), Kelsey (Kittleson) Millonig (2011-12, Luther College softball), Shari Huber (2012-13, Luther College softball), and Ramey Sieck (2013-14, Wartburg volleyball).
 
About Johanna Olson
The IIAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is named in honor of the late Johanna Olson, a former cross country and track & field student-athlete at Luther College who was the inaugural recipient of the award. Olson battled brain cancer for over 15 years before her fight ended on January 3, 2013 at age 33. She was originally diagnosed with a brain tumor as a college freshman in 1997 but went on to win the 2000 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship three years to the day after her initial brain surgery. In addition to the national title in cross country, she won three Iowa Conference Individual Championships and three IIAC Most Valuable Runner awards (1999, 2000, 2001). In track and field, she was the 2001 IIAC Most Valuable Performer, earning All-America honors in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs. Olson was also a member of the 2001 distance medley relay team that captured the indoor national title. She was named the United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA) regional and national Athlete of the Year in both cross country and track and field in 2000-01. In 1999, Olson was presented the Honda Awards Inspirational Athlete of the Year after returning from radiation treatments to compete at the national level.