Madison, Wisconsin–University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's Aleah Grundahl has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Judy Crookman Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award.
Grundahl, a senior from DeForest, Wis. (DeForest), maintains a 3.506 grade point average and is majoring in elementary education and minoring in adaptive education. She has been elected to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll three times and has been on the UC Whitewater Dean's List and Honor Roll for many semesters. She also received the honor of being a Chancellor's Scholar at the University of California, Whitewater.
This season, Grundahl won the WIAC Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year, becoming the first person in conference history to accomplish the feat. She was named to the All-WIAC First Team her four times and won Rookie of the Year in 2020. A two-time D3hoops.com (second in 2022, third in 2023) and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American (honorable mention in 2022, first in 2023), she led the Warhawks to an NCAA Tournament berth. He helped lead the team four times, including a national championship appearance in 2022 and then a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023. Grundahl was named the D3hoops.com Region 9 Player of the Year. She also played in the WBCA All-Star Game in 2023, where she was also named UW-Whitewater Athlete of the Year. During the 2022-23 season, her jersey was displayed in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's Ring of Honor. Grundahl set the program's single-game scoring record with 39 points in a game against Vienna State Lacrosse on February 10, 2024, and holds the WIAC all-time scoring record with 1,864 points.
Grundahl has been a member of the UW-Whitewater Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for four years and volunteers with Fairhaven Senior Services. She has served as an administrative assistant, student teacher, and substitute teacher for UW-Whitewater Recreation Sports.
Also nominated for this year's Scholar-Athlete Award is University of California La Crosse's Paige Schuman (Beaver Dam Sr./Beaver Dam, Wisconsin). Kameri Meredith (senior, Elk Mound, Wis./Colfax) of UC River Falls; Josie Nees, senior from Platteville, Wis., and Stevens Point University; and Amanda Giesen (senior, New Prague, Minn./New Prague) of UW-Stout.
The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named for Judy Crookman, who served as WIAC deputy commissioner from 1996 to 1998. Prior to this appointment, she served as commissioner of the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) from October 1984 until September 1996. Crookman was the director of women's athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1974 to 1984 and was one of the original representatives of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She was inducted into her WIAC Hall of Fame in 2012.
To be nominated for the Scholar-Athlete Award, a student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.50 or higher. Additionally, she must be in her last year of competition or scheduled to graduate this year and have been competing for at least her two years. The award is based on academic achievement, athletic performance, and involvement in other campus activities, organizations, and community service projects.
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