Senior Logan Rademan of Marian University baseball and fellow senior Kendall Pliner have been named finalists for the G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athelte of the Year award.
Each of the NACC’s 13 coeducational members may nominate one male student-athlete for the annual award. The NACC Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC) uses a combination of the following criteria in the selection of the award: athletic excellence, academic achievement, service and leadership, and a personal statement.
Effective with the 2022-2023 academic year, the award was renamed in honor and memory of NACC founding commissioner Dr. G. Steven Larson. Larson oversaw the NACC from 2006-2020, assuming the commissioner’s role after 20 years as director of athletics and head men’s basketball coach at Edgewood College. During his final 11 years at Edgewood, he also served as commissioner of the Lake Michigan Conference (LMC). Larson passed away in December 2021.
Rademan (West Allis, Wis.) adds this distinction after being named All-NACC Honorable Mention, CSC Academic All-District, and earning a spot on the ABCA Region 8 All-Defensive Team, the first in program history. At the plate, he reached 50 hits for a second straight campaign and led Marian with a .347 batting average and .438 on base percentage. Rademan had a stretch of nine straight games from April 12 to April 23 where he had multiple hits in every game. That stretch was started after going 5-for-9 (.555) in two games against CUC and 5-for-8 (.625) in the twin bill with CUW. In the second game against Allegheny, Rademan was 3-for-4 with a run scored and three runs driven in. He posted a .973 fielding percentage at the hot corner for the Sabres committing only three errors on 113 total chances. He was also involved in four double plays on the season with two coming on the road at Ripon. Rademan didn’t commit an error over the final 25 games of the season with 73 of his chances coming over that span.
Pliner (Mayvill, Wis.) has had a busy award season earning All-NACC Honorable Mention honors and CSC Academic All-District recognition. Pliner was third on the team with 34 base hits and finished the regular season with a .333 batting average. She also ranked second on the squad with her 24 runs driven in. She was the top qualifying Marian hitter for slugging percentage at .461 recording four doubles and a team-high three home runs. Pliner had multiple hits in nine games and drove in multiple runs seven times. One of her top games came against Adrian where she drove in three runs. Pliner only committed five errors defensively and finished the season with 202 putouts and a .976 fielding percentage.
The male and female G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athlete of the Year award recipients will be announced Wednesday, July 30. The full press release and list of finalists can be found at https://naccsports.org/.
