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Porath, Olsen Named Senior Scholar-Athlete Award Winners

Porath, Olsen Named Senior Scholar-Athlete Award Winners

Three-time women's basketball consensus All-American Leah Porath and two-time NCAA Division III football Rimington Award winner Mike Olsen are the recipients of the 2022 UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.

The John Taylor Scholar-Athlete Award is presented annually to an outstanding male and female senior student-athlete who has compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher. The award reflects not only individual athletic achievements, but also embodies the ideals of team contribution, scholastic endeavor, school and community involvement, and those personal characteristics that are reflected in the philosophy of intercollegiate athletics at UW-Oshkosh.

Porath concluded her five seasons at UW-Oshkosh by helping the Titans to 98 wins, two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season titles, three WIAC Tournament championships and three NCAA regional titles in three consecutive trips to the Division III postseason.

Porath, the 2020 and 2021 WIAC Player of the Year, garnered All-America recognition from both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and D3hoops.com in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Porath, a consensus First Team All-American in 2021, is the second player in program history to be selected to All-America teams in three consecutive seasons.

The most decorated player in UW-Oshkosh women's basketball history with six total All-America citations, Porath is the program's fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,405 career points. She scored at least eight points in 72 of her last 73 games played as UW-Oshkosh reached the third round of the Division III Championship in 2019 and 2020 before reaching the Elite Eight in 2022. Porath, a three-time All-WIAC First Team selection, and the Titans were the league postseason champions in 2019, 2020 and 2021 after clinching conference regular season titles in 2019 and 2021.

Porath, one of 11 finalists for the 2022 Jostens Trophy that recognizes the most outstanding Division III player, capped her standout 115-game career with a .481 field goal percentage, including a .381 clip from 3-point range, 559 rebounds and 179 assists. During her final three All-America campaigns, Porath averaged a combined 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game on the way to helping the Titans produce records of 22-7 in 2022, 9-2 during the abbreviated 2021 season and 20-10 in 2020 since going 26-4 in 2019 and 21-6 during Porath's freshman season in 2018.

A New London High School alumna, Porath owns a 3.67 cumulative grade-point-average while majoring in both supply chain management and marketing. Porath has been on UW-Oshkosh's Dean's List twice and the school's academic Honor Roll on seven occasions. She was named the 2022 WIAC Judy Kruckman Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award winner and was recognized on the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll each of the past four years.

Porath has volunteered with the Oshkosh Celebration of Lights and the Fondy Food Pantry in Fond du Lac. Porath, who graduated from UW-Oshkosh on May 14, has served internships with Rhino Tool House and Amcor.

Olsen, the anchor on the UW-Oshkosh football team's offensive line, became just the third Division III player to earn multiple Rimington Awards, winning the honor for the division's top center in both 2020 and 2021. Olsen, the most celebrated offensive lineman in UW-Oshkosh history, was named a 2021 Division III First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association in 2021, a 2019 D3football.com Second Team All-American, a D3football.com All-Region selection in 2019 and 2021, and to the All-WIAC First Team in 2019 and 2021. Olsen was the first UW-Oshkosh offensive lineman and sixth player in school history to receive All-America accolades in multiple seasons.

Olsen started each of UW-Oshkosh's nine games this season, playing a key role in helping the Titans average 5.6 yards per carry and score 19 rushing touchdowns. UW-Oshkosh, which finished the 2021 campaign ranked second in Division III with 2.50 tackles for loss allowed per game, gained at least 183 rushing yards six times on the year while allowing just 21 tackles for loss and nine sacks.

Olsen helped UW-Oshkosh produce a 34-11 record during his four seasons, including marks of 12-1 in 2017 and 8-3 in 2019 as the Titans clinched WIAC regular season titles both years. UW-Oshkosh went on to reach the semifinal round of the Division III Championship during Olsen's freshman year in 2017.

The 2020 recipient of the WIAC Max Sparger Football Scholar-Athlete Award, Olsen graduated in December 2020 with a 3.66 cumulative grade-point average as a major in both supply chain management and finance. He was a graduate student at UW-Oshkosh in Fall 2021.

Olsen was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy, an award that recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. In 2019 he received the UW-Oshkosh Dr. Brent Bandy Scholarship for his high level of academic success and involvement in extracurricular activities (excluding athletics). Olsen was also chosen to the 2022 NFF & College Hall of Fame Hampshire Honor Society for his efforts both on the field and in the classroom.

Olsen, a four-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll, was recognized on UW-Oshkosh's Dean's List four times. The 2016 Arrowhead Union High School graduate served three years as president of UW-Oshkosh's Supply Chain Management Club and participated in internships at Amcor and the Kohler Co.

The UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award was first presented in 1976 for men and in 1981 for women.