Westlake, Ohio – Recent Oberlin College graduate Geno Arthur was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Don Hunsinger Award, the North Coast Athletic Conference announced on Thursday morning.
 
Arthur is the first Yeoman to receive the honor since its inception in 2009. The award is named in honor of former Oberlin administrator and coach Don Hunsinger who worked at the college for over 30 years.  During his tenure, Hunsinger served Oberlin as athletic director, chairman of the department of physical education, head coach for football, baseball, and men's and women's tennis, and assisted with the men's and women's basketball programs. The award recognizes one male senior student-athlete who has distinguished himself throughout his collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
 
In the fall, Arthur became the first Yeomen harrier in school history to win the NCAC men's cross country individual title with an 8k time of 25:00.7. The three-time, first-team, All-NCAC cross country performer then went on to become the first individual regional champion in program history with a time of 25:13.7 at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. He then capped off his illustrious cross country career with his third-straight trip to the national meet and his second consecutive All-American performance after finishing 22nd overall with a time of 24:47.7. Arthur continued his dominance over NCAC distance runners in the spring as he was crowned the league's Distance Runner of the Year after winning both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the 2016 NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Oberlin Male Athlete of the Year honoree was also named the 2015 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Distance Runner of the Year in his junior campaign. 
 
Arthur's success wasn't just achieved on the on the oval or on the terrain as he recently graduated with a 3.5 grade-point-average with a degree in biology and was named to the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. Arthur, who was named the 2016 John N. Stern/NCAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Oberlin, also earned the Lysle K. Butler Award in 2015 and was awarded the Oberlin Biology Department's Hope Hibbard Memorial Scholarship in 2016.
 
Arthur, who was one of seven nominees for the honor, was active in service and leadership positions in both the campus and local communities during his time at Oberlin. In the fall of 2014 he designed and implemented ecology lab protocols as a teaching assistant in the Oberlin biology department and also served as a NINDE Scholars high school tutor from 2013-16. In the community, he volunteered his time at the Kendal Retirement Home and served as a communications and development intern at the Alzheimer's Association in the summer of 2014. He was an associate at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy Preservation and was a communications intern at the Gulf Restoration Network in January of 2016.
 
He concluded his illustrious career on the track at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in May, placing 16th in the 10,000m (33:05.77) and 11th in the 5,000m (15:01.09). He leaves Oberlin the owner of five school records, three All-American certificates, six Academic All-American honors, and the distinction of most accomplished male distance runner in school history. 
 
Don Hunsinger Award Winners Through Years
2016 - Geno Arthur, Oberlin
2015 - Casey Cempre, Denison
2014 - Andrew Chevalier, Kenyon
2013 - Curtis Ramsey, Kenyon
2012 - Sharif Kronemer, Ohio Wesleyan
2011 - Kyle Herman, Ohio Wesleyan
2010 - J. David Gatz, Ohio Wesleyan
2009 - Kyle Holliday, Ohio Wesleyan