Posted: Jun 20, 2023

Baudendistel and Newsom Selected for D3 Commissioner's Award

Julie Baudendistel and Michael Newsom have been chosen as the SLIAC nominees for the Division III Commissioners Association (D3CA) Student-Athlete of the Year award. This is the second year the D3CA has sponsored the award which honors graduating student-athletes.

Baudendistel, a women's basketball player from Webster University, helped the Gorloks to a fourth consecutive SLIAC regular season title; compiling a 50-5 conference record in her four years with the team. The Gorloks made the D3 national tournament three times in her career and she was a two-time All-Region and All-Conference performer as well as the 2021 SLIAC Player of the Year. She became the 9th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points this past season and ranks 4th on the all-time scoring list. Baudendistel was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and Division III Second Team Academic All-America this past season and is a three-time SLIAC All-Academic team member. Baudendistel finished with a 3.98 grade-point average while majoring in Exercise Science.

Newsom, a baseball player from Spalding University, capped off his Golden Eagle career by helping lead his team to its first-ever SLIAC Tournament championship, qualifying for the D3 national tournament. Newsom led Spalding with a .379 average, 64 runs, 78 hits, and 8 triples while driving 51; ranking in the top three in league history for single-season hits and runs scored while tying the mark for triples. He was named First Team All-Conference, as well as All-Tournament, and earned All-Region honors. In the classroom, Newsom holds a 4.0 grade-point average in Business Communication and was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and Division III First Team Academic All-American. He also picked up All-Conference and All-Academic honors last season.

The award recognizes graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. Nominees were chosen by member schools and voted on by league Sports Information Directors. Both nominees will be placed on the regional voting list with each region winner going forward to a national vote by D3 Commissioners.

Other Nominees