All-American. NCAA champion. Missouri Valley Conference champion. Academic All-American. Prestigious honors are nothing new to Christian Goy, and the senior from Rheinsburg, Germany can now add the 2003 Missouri Valley Conferences Dr. Charlotte West Male Scholar-Athlete Award to his ever growing list.
Goy was selected out of a field of conference student-athletes who met the Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award criteria, including academic achievement, athletics excellence and service and leadership.
During his time as a Redbird, Goy has become one of the most decorated athletes in Illinois State history. He was the 2002 NCAA indoor champion in the mile run, a three-time 1,500-meter Missouri Valley champion, and he also owns league titles in the mile-run and 800-meter run.
As celebrated as Goy is athletically, he is just as impressive in the classroom. Goy earned his bachelors degree in business management while maintaining a 3.47 cumulative grade point average. He was a 2002 Verizon CoSIDA Academic All-American, and a three-time league scholar athlete.
In addition, Goy has held a number of community service and leadership positions while at Illinois State. He was a three-year member of the Student Athletic Advisory Council, and served as its president in 2002.
Illinois State Cross Country coach Chris Bailey has been Goys teammate and coach, and believes that the Valley picked the perfect person to represent what the award stands for.
Everyone knows that Christian is a remarkable athlete, but by winning this award, it goes to show how well-rounded he is as a person," Bailey said. "Its a testament to how hard he works at all aspects of life, and that all the hard work pays off.
The namesake of the Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award was a driving force in the advancement of womens athletics for more than 40 years. During her 41 years at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where served as head coach, associate athletic director, interim athletics director, and senior woman administrator.
Tamara Hart of Bradley was named the Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Female Award recipient.
