Valpo senior outfielder Nolan Lodden (West Des Moines, Iowa/West Des Moines Valley [Heartland CC]) received co-Horizon League Spring Scholar-Athlete of the Season accolades, as announced by the league office Thursday.

Lodden carried a 3.949 grade point average at Valparaiso as an electrical engineering major. The senior was named a First Team Academic All-American and was the first-such honoree in program history. Furthermore, he earned Valparaiso’s Finishing at the Top award that is presented to graduating student-athletes who own a cumulative GPA of at least 3.9. In addition, he garnered Valparaiso Presidential academic honors and Outstanding Student-Athlete award each of his two years. Lodden was also a member of the Horizon League All-League Teams in 2015 and 2016 as well as the Academic Honor Roll each semester eligible.

On the field for the Crusaders, Lodden was a First Team All-Horizon League honoree in 2016 after taking Second Team honors as a junior. The senior led the team in batting average (.356), hits (83), runs scored (57), doubles (18), and walks (36) and the conference in runs scored and doubles. Lodden moved to third in Valparaiso’s record books for single-season hits and runs scored. He earned All-Tournament Team accolades at the Horizon League Championship while going 8-for-17 (.471) with six runs and nine runs batted in. Lodden closed out his Valpo career with a .343 batting average, 102 runs scored, 79 RBIs in 110 games.

Lodden joins Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) and Vashil Fernandez (Kingston, Jamaica/Princeton Day [Md.] Academy), who were recipients of the honor in the fall and winter seasons, respectively.