DWU national award winner Landon Ruesink honored by NAIA in on-campus event
Mar. 27—MITCHELL — A big award deserves a big celebration. And so that's what Landon Ruesink received on Thursday from both the NAIA and his collegiate colleagues with Dakota Wesleyan University, as hundreds of members of the football and baseball teams, campus staff, coaches and professors were on hand to congratulate him on winning the NAIA's A.
O. Duer Award, which is the association's ...
Mar. 27—MITCHELL — A big award deserves a big celebration. And so that's what Landon Ruesink received on Thursday from both the NAIA and his collegiate colleagues with Dakota Wesleyan University, as hundreds of members of the football and baseball teams, campus staff, coaches and professors were on hand to congratulate him on winning the NAIA's A.
O. Duer Award, which is the association's highest honor for a student-athlete. The award was presented to Ruesink on campus, something the NAIA did for the first time.
Normally, the award has been presented during an annual ceremony in front of athletic administrators in Kansas City. But NAIA Director of Championships Marc Burchard said the on-campus event was a trial and they believed it would be most meaningful for Ruesink and award winners to celebrate with their peers and campus members. DWU athletic director Ross Cimpl, who recruited Ruesink to campus when he was head football coach, recalled Ruesink's willingness to switch to defense after being recruited as a receiver and then after getting hurt as a freshman, coming back to the team during a losing season to play, rather than potential sit out and retain an extra year of eligibility.