INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – William Jewell College fifth-year baseball shortstop Alex Epp has been named a recipient the 2024 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award, alongside University of Indianapolis senior softball hurler Kenzee Smith, the Conference office announced Monday.

The awards are bestowed annually by the GLVC to one male and one female student-athlete who display academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character, and leadership. It is named in honor of former GLVC Commissioner, as well as coach and director of athletics at Saint Joseph's College.
 
Epp and Smith will be formally recognized Tuesday, May 21, at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Awards Reception in St. Louis, Missouri.

Epp becomes the first individual from Jewell to claim the GLVC's top student-athlete honor since the school joined the league in 2009. In his final season as a Cardinal, Epp was unanimously named All-GLVC First Team for the third-straight time, unanimously earned the GLVC Player of the Year award – the first in program history – and led Jewell to the GLVC Tournament for the third consecutive year. The Wichita, Kan. native led the league in GLVC-only games through 132 at-bats for runs (58), doubles (17), total bases (110), and walks (38), while ranking second in slugging percentage (.851), on-base percentage (.555), on-base plus slugging (1.388), and hits (56). Epp has racked up numerous other awards in his five-year career, including National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-Midwest Region First Team (2024), D2CCA All-America Second Team (2023), D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2023), American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Midwest Region Second Team (2022-23), and Jewell Men's Athlete of the Year (2023). Additionally, he has garnered Jewell's R.E. Bowles Award back-to-back years (2023-24), which is awarded annually to a male student-athlete who displays the highest levels of sportsmanship, leadership, perseverance, and dedication.
 
Academically, Epp excelled in the classroom where he carried a 3.938 GPA in civil engineering, making the Dean's List six through last fall semester. The 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American of the Year and a two-time CSC Academic All-America First Team honoree, Epp has also been named CSC Academic All-District three times, Academic All-GLVC four times, GLVC Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar-Athlete twice, and Jewell Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2021.

In addition to Epp's laundry list of athletic and academic achievements, he also participates in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).