PEORIA, Ill. --  For the third time in the 56-year history of the award, three student-athletes shared the 2006 Bradley University Watonga Award as women's golfer Meaghan LeBlanc, men's tennis player Marko Marevic and volleyball playerLindsay Stalzer were announced as tri-winners at the conclusion of  the Bradley Athletic Department's annual awards ceremony Tuesday night in the Michel Student Center.
 
The Watonga Award is the highest honor Bradley University can bestow on a graduating student-athlete and has been awarded annually since 1951 to the senior(s) who best combines athletic ability with academic success and community service.  LeBlanc is the first-ever women's golfer to win the award, while Marevic is just the third winner from the men's tennis program.  Stalzer is the fifth volleyball player to win at least a share of the award in the last eight years and the eighth overall.
 
Meaghan LeBlanc (Women's Golf) • Calgary, Alberta • Western Canada
LeBlanc is one of only two women in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to win back-to-back individual women's golf championships (2005 and 2006) and collect four All-MVC awards (2003-04-05-06).  As she prepares to lead the 2006 MVC champion Bradley women's golf team into the NCAA West Regional next week, LeBlanc has won four tournament championships during her career, including three of the four tournaments this spring.  Her round has counted toward Bradley's team score in all 49 rounds she has played the last two seasons.
 
Boasting a 3.74 cumulative grade point average while majoring in finance, LeBlanc is a three-time Valley Scholar-Athlete and she has earned a spot on the Bradley University Dean's List in five of her first seven semesters.
 
Marko Marevic (Men's Tennis) • Podgora, Croatia
Marevic is the first-ever Bradley men's tennis player to be voted All-Missouri Valley Conference four times in his career.  Bradley's No. 1 singles player throughout his four-year career, Marevic finished 11th in school history with 113 career victories, 59 in singles play and 54 in doubles action.
 
A double major in mathematics and economics, Marevic sports a 3.80 cumulative grade point average and is a three-time member of the Valley's Scholar-Athlete Team.
 
Lindsay Stalzer (Volleyball) • Kewanee, Ill. • Kewanee H.S.
Stalzer was the 2005 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Player of the Year after leading the nation and setting the Valley single-season record with 720 kills. The first three-time All-MVC first-team selection in Bradley volleyball history, Stalzer also set the school and league career records with 1,948 kills.
 
Sporting a 3.32 cumulative GPA as a mechanical engineering major, Stalzer was voted to the 2005 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V third team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.  She is the third Bradley volleyball player to earn first-team Valley Scholar-Athlete honors three times.
 
In addition to the Watonga Award, several other annual awards were presented during Tuesday night's ceremony:  soccer senior Adam Hage (Normal, Ill./University H.S.) was presented the Carl Grose Service Award; men's basketball senior Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Central H.S.) and former baseball player Johnny Sage (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.) shared the fourth annual Megan C. Fong Inspiration Award and former track and field star Hon. Howard McKibben was presented the Orville Nothdurft Lifetime Achievement Award.