NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) announced the 2023-24 Merle Chapman Leadership Award recipients earlier this week, with Football's Parker Raddatz and Women's Swimming's Anina Lee serving as Carroll University's representatives. 

Named after former Millikin Athletics Director and the CCIW's second commissioner, who served in that capacity from 1997-2002, the award identifies the student-athletes that best exemplify the traits that Chapman displayed and encouraged during his three-plus decades of service as teacher, coach and mentor to the athletes, coaches and administrators of the CCIW. Those traits are loyalty, enthusiasm, leadership, sportsmanship, and a commitment to academic, athletic and personal excellence.

Each CCIW institution selects one men's and one women's student-athlete from their Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) who participates in a CCIW-sponsored sport, for the annual award.