Awaiting the recipient of this award did not feature much drama, but the well-deserved honors for Valparaiso University men’s golf senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine Minn. / Blaine) never get old.

VanArragon was named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive season, adding to his long list of accolades that also includes the MVC Elite 17 Award – which is presented to the highest cumulative grade point average among top finishers at the MVC Championship – for the third season in a row. Sophomore Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) joined VanArragon on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team.

VanArragon boasted an MVC-best 71.08 scoring average this season, shattering his own modern program record. His numbers in the classroom are just as impressive, as he owns a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average as a double major in biology and statistics.

VanArragon, who earned an NCAA Regional at-large berth this year, also achieved All-MVC status for the fourth consecutive season. He finished 11^th or better in all 11 of his tournaments this season prior to the NCAA Regional including 10 top-10 finishes. He has 29 career top-10 finishes. He is a two-time CoSIDA/CSC At-Large Academic All-District Team (District 5) choice and has earned 2020-21 Valparaiso University Bill Steinbrecher Sportsmanship Award and 2019-20 MVC Newcomer of the Year. VanArragon was named the MVC Golfer of the Week twice this year and has earned the award 13 times in his collegiate career, the third most in conference history.

Delisanti finished the season with a 71.17 scoring average that ranks second in program history, behind only VanArragon. He was also behind only his team on the MVC scoring average leaderboard. The sophomore owns a 3.85 cumulative GPA in sports management.

Delisanti won medalist honors at the MVC Championship for the second straight season, once again earning an NCAA Regional berth. He was named 2022-23 MVC Golfer of the Year and earned All-MVC accolades for the second straight year. Delisanti’s trophy case also includes MVC Newcomer of the Year in 2021-22. He shattered an MVC Championship record for 54-hole tournament score that had stood for 73 years by carding a 200 (-13) and outdid program records for 54-hole tournament score both overall and in relation to par at the Zach Johnson Invitational during the fall before rewriting his own records at the MVC Championship. Delisanti had five top-2 tournament finishes this season and earned the MVC Golfer of the Week award four times this season.  

First Team

Joe Bultman, Belmont

Tom Cleaton, Southern Illinois

Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso

Nicholas Gushrowski, Evansville

Braden Hoisington, Southern Illinois

Griffin Parker, UNI

Lucas Scherf, Drake

Michael Senn, Belmont

Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso

Honorable Mention

John Buchanan, Murray State

John Stillman, Bradley

Markus Wilhelmsen, Southern Illinois

Scholar-Athlete of the Year:   Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso