First-year linebacker Ryan Slager was honored as one of the recipients of the Les Duke First Year Athlete of the Year awards at last night's GOAL ceremony. A long time athlete and coach at Grinnell, as well as a member of our Hall of Fame, Les Duke was an all-conference football player and track athlete during Grinnell's time in the Missouri Valley Conference. Each year we recognize four individuals with first-year athlete awards: male team sport, male individual sport, female team sport, and female individual sport. Slager was the first football player recognized since Sam Poulos in 2012.
Asked to start at inside linebacker from day one, Ryan rose to the occasion. Posting 18 tackles in his first game against Beloit, Slager filled a need for the defense immediately. He followed that up with 11 tackles against Macalester, 13 against Lawrence, 13 against Cornell, 17 against Illinois College, and 19 against Knox. He recorded15 tackles in the season finale, and finished the year with 134 total tackles, good for second in all of division 3!
Congratulations on the fine rookie season Ryan!
