Robert Iron Shell (Sioux) named Briar Cliff University Male Athlete of the Year

(Sioux City, Iowa) – Briar Cliff University hosted its annual Champions of Character banquet, a celebration of sport, scholastic achievement and character.  Over 350 student-athletes gathered in the university’s St. Francis Center to collectively look back upon the 2015-16 academic year and to recognize successes.  Several awards were handed out throughout the evening including the male and female athlete of the year awards, the male and female scholar-athlete of the year awards, the male and female champion of character awards and the university’s Most Inspirational Athlete of the Year Award.

For the first time in banquet history, there were co male athletes of the year with Clay Harreld and Robert Iron Shell (Rosebud Sioux) both being deemed worthy of the honor.

Iron Shell had plenty of success over the past year, winning awards at the local and national level. Earlier this season, Iron Shell was named the GPAC Athlete of the Week in back-to-back weeks, was the NAIA Athlete of the Week and was also named the Most Outstanding Athlete at the Sioux City Relays. He has already automatically qualified for nationals in the 100, 200 and 400, a program first, and those accolades earned him a spot in the latest edition of Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd. He helped the Chargers finish third in the last two GPAC Outdoor Championships, the highest finish by BCU, and he has also been named All-GPAC six times and All-American four times in the past 12 months. His 400 at the 2016 GPAC Outdoor conference meet was voted the performance of the meet, voted on by coaches for the performance that wowed them the most.