SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Summit League officials announced their 2020-21 Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award honorees on Thursday. This year's recipients were North Dakota’s Julia Fleecs Palmquist and South Dakota’s Jessie Sullivan, who were rewarded for their outstanding academic achievements, athletic achievements, attitude, and leadership throughout a unique 2020-21 academic year.

Fleecs is the first Fighting Hawk to earn this award on either the male or female side, while Sullivan is the second male Coyote to garner the distinction joining Jeff Mettler (2012-13). The Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the most prestigious accolade The Summit League bestows each year and is determined by a vote of the league's faculty athletic representatives.

JULIA FLEECS
On the hardwood, Fleecs has served as a two-year captain for the Fighting Hawks earning All-Summit League honors in both 2019-20 (second team) and 2020-21 (honorable mention). She earned her first career Summit League Player of the Week accolade on Feb. 1 after averaging 16.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg in a series with Western Illinois.

Fleecs, who is the league’s seventh women’s basketball player to earn this distinction, led the Fighting Hawks in scoring and rebounding each of the last two years and ranked among the Summit League’s top 10 in scoring (13.3), rebounding (7.6) and blocked shots in 2020-21.

In the classroom, UND’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year carries a 4.0 cumulative GPA in biology and is majoring in pre-medicine and psychology. She has been accepted to medical school where she plans to pursue her career goal of becoming a physician. The Glidden, Iowa native has gained experience in that field as a research assistant in the geriatric lab at the UND School of Medicine and as a medication aide at the Good Samaritan Society.

She has been named to the Academic All-Summit League Women’s Basketball Team in 2019-20 and 2020-21while also earning spots on the league’s honor roll and commissioner’s list each year she has been eligible.

A nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year, Fleecs has completed more than 100 hours of community service in Grand Forks during her undergraduate years, volunteering with the Special Olympics, Samaritan’s Feet, the Grand Forks Women’s Pregnancy Center, the Wild Hog Marathon and the Grand Forks Public Schools.

Fleecs has also been a four-year representative on UND’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Diversity and Inclusion group which have allowed her to demonstrate her leadership to not only serve her teammates and fellow student-athletes, but all students on UND’s campus.

JESSIE SULLIVAN
Sullivan captured All-Summit League honors at the 2021 Outdoor Championship by winning the discus title and placing third in the hammer throw. He would finish the meet with 18 points and qualify for the NCAA West Regional in both events.

The rising senior won five event titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons and ranks in the top five in program history for the discus, indoor weight throw and shot put.

In the classroom, the three-time All-Summit League Academic Team honoree carries a 4.0 cumulative GPA in chemistry and is minoring in mathematics and biology. He has been named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List and honor roll each year he has been eligible and earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

With ambitions to continue his education in medicine, Sullivan was accepted into two competitive research experiences at USD: the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Addiction (SPURA).

Sullivan, who is the league’s fifth male track and field athlete to earn the award, serves in several leadership roles on campus, including the Mortar Board, of which he is a member of its National Honor Society and serves as the president of the USD Chapter, and the USD Pre-Med Society.

During the pandemic, Sullivan became involved with the South Dakota Department of Health’s contact tracing efforts and volunteered to contribute to patient communication and charting, while becoming engaged in public health training activities.

Also nominated for Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Amanda Anderson, NDSU // Jonna Bart, South Dakota // Christina Boe, Denver // Andrea Daves, Omaha // Jonaie Johnson, Kansas City // Oksana Johnson, SDSU // Sasha Wells, Oral Roberts // Evan Zars, Western Illinois

Also nominated for Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Chase Cayo, SDSU // Bryce Choate, Oral Roberts // Alex Kaddah, Denver // Rocky Kreuser, NDSU // Matt Pile, Omaha // Filip Rebraca, North Dakota // Jordan Salt, Kansas City // Wyatt Spier, Western Illinois

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