Grand Rapids Reporter

Two Ferris State University athletes have been recognized with the 2024 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Commissioner's Award for their achievements in sports and academics. Senior men's tennis player Jan Koupil from Stockholm, Sweden, and senior track and field runner Brandon Wirth from Reed City were honored by the league office.

The GLIAC Commissioner's Awards are given after each athletic season to six male and six female student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically. The awards consider students of junior, senior, or graduate status with grade-point averages based on a 4.0 scale.

Jan Koupil has previously been named a 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team selection. He contributed to the Bulldogs' success in winning the 2024 GLIAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships. This spring, he earned All-GLIAC First Team honors, achieving a 17-12 record in doubles and a 16-7 record in singles play. Koupil was ranked among the top 12 nationally in doubles play and competed at the ITA Cup National Small College Championships last fall. His efforts helped Ferris State reach the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive year.

Brandon Wirth concluded his collegiate career by earning his second GLIAC Commissioner's Award this spring. As a graduate student, he placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and is among Ferris State's all-time top ten leaders in that event. He also finished twelfth in the mile at the GLIAC Indoor Championships and was among the top fifty runners at last fall's GLIAC Cross Country Championships.

Wirth has also been active on campus as a student in FSU's Athletics Department while producing an award-winning podcast titled "Behind The Bulldogs." Since its inception in 2007, Ferris State has had 87 student-athletes receive this prestigious recognition within the conference.