University of Southern Indiana junior All-American Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) and senior All-American Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) have been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Scholar Athletes of the Year form men’s and women’s cross country, respectively, in a vote by the league’s faculty athletic representatives.
Roberts continued to impress in 2016 after a breakout sophomore year in 2015. The junior earned GLVC Runner of the Year honors after defeating the field at the GLVC Championships. Robert was the first USI runner to accomplish the feat since Jackie Henderson in 2011, while also leading the Eagles to their sixth-straight conference championship.
An exercise science major with a 3.75 GPA, Roberts earned her fourth-career All-America honor in addition to All-Midwest Region accolades after finishing fifth at the NCAA Division II National Championships and second at the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships. Roberts finished fifth at the National Championships for the second-consecutive year, which matches the best finish in program history accomplished by Mary Ballinger in 2009.
Roberts earned the award for the second consecutive year. In 2015, she became the fifth USI women’s cross country runner in program history to garner GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors and the first since Jackie Henderson in 2010.
Broughton earns the award for the first time in his career after scoring All-American honors for the second time in his career, as well as All-Region honors with finishes of sixth and 27th.
The top USI finisher at the NCAA II National Championships and NCAA II Midwest Regional, Broughton helped propel USI to their 12th-consecutive GLVC Championship with a fourth-place finish. In the process, Broughton earned his third cross country All-GLVC nod.
Currently a graduate student pursuing a master’s in Sport Management, Broughton has a 4.00 GPA in the program. Broughton is the fourth student athlete in program history to earn GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors. USI Men’s Cross Country has earned the award three-straight years with former All-American Johnnie Guy repeating in 2014 and 2015.
