Wierenga and Hall Named Taylor Student-Athletes of the Year
UPLAND, Ind. – Katie Wierenga and Matt Hall were recognized on Monday as the Taylor University women’s and men’s student-athletes of the year. The duo received the awards during TU’s annual Honors Chapel.
Wierenga was named the Natalie Steele Award winner as Taylor’s top female student-athlete during the 2016-2017 campaign, after becoming the first player in TU women’s soccer history to earn both NAIA All-American and CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American honors in a career.
In addition to those two prestigious awards, Wierenga was named the Crossroads League Midfielder of the Year after helping the Trojans to their best season in program history. TU set program bests with 14 wins, 11 shutouts and a No. 16 national rating.
Wierenga is set to graduate from Taylor with degrees in computer science and digital media, as well as in graphic art and owns a cumulative grade-point average of 3.89.
Hall was selected as the Gates-Howard Award winner as TU’s top male student-athlete over the past year. Hall earned his sixth and seventh NAIA All-American honors of his career during the cross country and indoor track seasons and will run for an eighth later this month at the outdoor track nationals. Hall is also likely to claim his third CoSIDA Academic All-America award later this spring.
Hall was dominant on the cross country course this fall, posting a win-loss record of 1,359-14 and finishing among the top-eight in all seven races, including NAIA Nationals. The success carried over to the track, where Hall broke TU’s record and claimed All-American honors in the indoor 5k, before winning the Crossroads League Championship in the outdoor 5k.
Hall will graduate from Taylor with a degree in computer science and possesses a cumulative GPA of 3.89.