PELLA – At the Dutchies, the Central College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's yearly celebration of Dutch athletics, women's track and field runner Abbi Roerdink (Tiffin, Ohio, Hopewell-Loudon HS)) and men's wrestler Gage Linahon (Newton)) were announced as the Gary Dirksen Student-Athlete Academic Award winners.

The awards go to the female and male senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPAs

Roerdink earned All-American honors at three different NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships during her four-year career. She ran the 400-meter leg of the distance medley relay team that finished fifth nationally at the 2023 indoor national meet and second at the 2024 indoor national meet. She was also a second team All-American in the 400-meter dash at the 2024 indoor and outdoor national championships. In her final season at Central, she reset the school record in the indoor (57.01 seconds) and outdoor (55.75 seconds) 400 meters.

She graduated with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average as an accounting and business management double major. She accepted a position at the Vermeer Corporation in Pella in the accounting and finance department.

Linahon is a three-time qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championships at 197 pounds with a career record of 83-26. A three-time selection to the American Rivers All-Conference team, Linahon was also a College Sports Communicator Academic All-American for the 2022-23 season.

Linahon finished four years at Central with a 3.977 GPA as an accounting and business management major. He's spending the summer working as an audit intern at RSM in Des Moines.