Giana Michels earns Emil S. Liston Award nomination from Heart of America

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nearing the start of the 2022-23 academic year, the Heart of America Athletic Conference announced their 2021-22 award winners at the Heart Summit on Monday.

One of the awards handed out was the official conference nomination for the Emil S. Liston Award as Clarke University's Giana Michels received that nomination from the Heart to be up for the award at the national level for the NAIA.

The Emil S. Liston Award is named in honor of the NAIA's first executive secretary and the prime mover behind the men's basketball tournament, this award has been presented annually since 1950 to one junior men's and women's basketball player who has shown high athletic and scholastic achievement.

Michels was the lone junior on the Pride women's basketball team during the 2021-22 season as she earned All-Heart Second Team honors as well as earning a spot on the Heart's All-Defensive team. She finished the season as the team's third leading scorer at 11.5 point per game as well as grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game and dishing out 2.2 assists per game.

With scholastic achievement being strongly considered for the award, Michels also earned a spot as a Heart Scholar-Athlete for the 2021-22 season with her 3.81 GPA exceeding a cumulative GPA of 3.4 on a 4.0 scale as she's working towards earning her Bachelor's Degree in Biology with an emphasis on Pre-Medicine.

Off the court and out of the classroom, Michels has proven to be a leader in the Clarke Association of Student-Athletes, Biology Club, and Dance Marathon, which raises funds for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. 

Michels will now be a candidate to receive the Emil S. Liston Award at the NAIA level as the national awards will be announced on NAIA Awards Day, which has run annually on Sept. 15.