Recent Central College graduates Thea Lunning and Lucas Heitz are among the finalists for the American Rivers Conference’s Johanna Olson and Duane Schroeder Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards.

Lunning is among four finalists for the Johanna Olson Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, after graduating with a 4.0 grade point average and a biology major. She is now attending optometry school at the University of Memphis. She was also Central’s nominee for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award . Last year, Lunning was also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Women’s At-Large Team as a third-team selection. After transferring to Central in 2021, Lunning was a two-time American Rivers All-Conference honoree in women’s golf, finishing second in the league tournament in Ames last fall after placing second a year earlier. She helped lead Central to the conference title and a berth in the NCAA Division III Championships in Florida last May, where the Dutch tied for 22nd place. She is a two-time American Rivers Academic All-Conference honoree as well as a three-time WGCA All-America Scholar. She is the third golfer ever named as Central’s nominee. Lunning also competed on the national stage in triathlon, lettering twice. She was a two-time USA Triathlon College Championships participant, placing 28th in Division III in 2021 and 29th this past fall.

Heitz is one of three finalists for the Duane Schroeder Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, after graduating with a 3.75 grade point average while majoring in engineering. He was a three-time NCAA Division III Championships qualifier, placing 12th in the outdoor decathlon in 2022 while finishing 16th and 11th in the indoor heptathlon in 2022 and 2023, respectively. He was a three-time USTFCCCA all-region indoor team selection and was tabbed for the outdoor all-region squad in 2022. Heitz earned American Rivers all-conference distinction in indoor track and field in 2021 and 2022 as well as outdoor honors in 2023. He was a five-time outdoor meet placewinner while placing in the indoor meet seven times. He also was a three-time academic all-conference and two-time USTFCCCA academic team honoree.

The award winners will be selected by a group of nine faculty athletics representatives with the winners announced January 9th.