Madison, Wis. - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Isaac Wegner of Durand (H.S.) has been named the recipient of the 2023 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Max Sparger Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
Wegner maintains a 3.97 grade point average and is majoring in cultural and social history and anthropology with a minor in Archaeology.  He is a two-time selection to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team and earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America® Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Team a year ago.  Wegner is a four-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and been named to UW-La Crosse's Dean's List numerous semesters.  He is an honors student in the anthropology department. 

 

A two-year team captain, Wegner helped UW-La Crosse claim this year's WIAC championship with a fourth-place finish.  He secured All-WIAC first team honors for the third time in his career.  In 2022, Wegner took third at the conference championship after a fifth-place finish in 2021. He claimed All-America recognition in 2022 with a 12th-place finish at the National Collegiate    Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship and earned All-Region distinction in 2021 and 2022.
 
Wegner is a member of UW-La Crosse's Student Athletic Advisory Council, Anthropology Club and History Club. He has volunteered with numerous organizations including: staffing high school and collegiate track & field meets, UW-La Crosse Veteran's Day Breakfast, Hunger Task Force, Walk To End Alzheimer's, Earth Day Marsh Clean Up and Outdoor Recreation Alliance Trail Clean-Up. Wegner is working as a digital preservation technician in UW-La Crosse's Oral History Department.

He is the 15th student-athlete in school history to earn the WIAC Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award and the first since Tyler Nault in 2019. 
 
Also nominated for this year's scholar-athlete award were: UW-Oshkosh's Jason Ford (Sr., Verona, Wis./Verona); UW-River Falls' Samuel Peters (Sr., South St. Paul, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran); UW-Stevens Point's Dylan Jensen (Sr., McHenry, Ill./East); UW-Stout's Ian Williams (Sr., Waterford, Wis./Union); and UW-Whitewater's Justin Krause (Ixonia, Wis./Pewaukee).
 
The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named after Max Sparger, who served as commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference for 22 years from 1971-93. He oversaw the transition of the conference from NAIA to full NCAA membership. Sparger arrived at UW-Stout in 1959 and served the institution in a variety of capacities, including as an assistant football and basketball coach, head wrestling coach and head football coach. He served as UW-Stout's athletics director from 1969-71.
 
In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.50 grade point average. In addition, he must be in his last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years. The award is based on academic achievements, athletics accomplishments and involvement in other campus activities, organizations and community service projects.