BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University Athletic Department has announced its Most Outstanding Senior Athlete Award winners.
The Kenneth Steingass Most Outstanding Male Athlete has been awarded since 1948-49 while the Marcia French Most Outstanding Female Athlete was first awarded in 1981-82. Both are presented annually to a deserving senior which is voted on by the coaches.
All-American, Academic All-American, All-OAC and Academic All-OAC cross country and track distance runner Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) and All-American, Academic All-American, All-OAC and Academic All-OAC men's soccer forward Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark) were tabbed as the Male and Female Most Outstanding Senior Athletes.
Brennan closes out one of the most impressive distance running careers in school-history. She is an 18-time NCAA Division III All-Great Lakes Region performer (four cross country and 14 track), 17-time All-OAC selection (four cross country and 13 track), 13-time All-Ohio performer (four cross country and nine track), eight-time letterwinner (four in each sport), six-time Division III national qualifier (two cross country and four track) and four-time All-American (one cross country and three track). Brennan also holds five school-records indoors and four outdoors.
Off the course and track, she is an accounting and finance double major that carries a 3.974 grade point average. Brennan is a five-time Academic All-OAC selection, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American and All-District 7 first-team selections, Dean's List student, Jacket Scholar, member of the Alpha Lambda Delta and Chi Sigma Alpha honoraries.
Ruple will graduate as one of the finest men's soccer players in school history. This season, the four-year letterwinner led the team and the OAC and was 17th in Division III with 17 goals. Ruple led squad and the OAC and was 19th in the nation with 41 points.
For his career, Ruple was a four-time All-OAC selection, four-time United Soccer Coaches Association All-Region selection, two-time OAC Forward of the Year award recipient and was the OAC Freshman of the Year award winner. He appeared in 77 career games and is the school's all-time leader in points with 146, goals with 58 and assists with 30. Ruple also holds the school single-season record for shots with 85, points with 45 and goals with 19. Ruple also ranks among the all-time leaders in the OAC as he is fourth in points, seventh in goals and tied for seventh in assists.
Off the pitch, Ruple is a master's in accounting major that carries a carries a 3.93 grade point average in accounting. He is the 2019 CoSIDA Men's Soccer Academic All-American of the Year, a four-time Academic All-Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA) selection, three-time Academic All-OAC selection, three-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 first-team selection, two-time United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America selection, Dean's List student, Jacket Scholar and a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society.
