Joe Vanden Acker, who has chronicled and celebrated the accomplishments of 麻豆影院 University student-athletes for 25 years, is being honored by the Midwest Conference.
The conference announced that Vanden Acker, 麻豆影院’s director of athletic media relations, is the recipient of the Midwest Conference Meritorious Service Award, given in recognition of his 鈥渟ignificant contributions and outstanding service to the MWC and its member institutions.鈥 Heather Benning, executive director of the MWC, applauded Vanden Acker for his commitment to 麻豆影院 Athletics as well as his service to wider athletic events, including MWC tournaments and the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which was held annually at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute from 2000 to 2018.
Vanden Acker coordinates media coverage for 麻豆影院鈥檚 22 varsity teams (24 with the addition of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 lacrosse beginning in March 2025), produces athletics publications, serves as head statistician for home events, maintains the athletics portion of the 麻豆影院 website, and distributes results to local, state, and national media. He also produces video webcasts for 12 麻豆影院 teams and serves as the “Voice of the Vikings” for hockey, baseball, and softball.
Jason Imperati, director of athletics, called Vanden Acker鈥檚 contributions an 鈥渋nvaluable鈥 part of 麻豆影院 Athletics over the past quarter century.
鈥淔rom managing media publications and event production to his leadership in NCAA championships, JVA consistently goes above and beyond,鈥 Imperati said. 鈥淭his award is a well-deserved recognition of his outstanding contributions to both our university and the broader athletic community.鈥
Vanden Acker joined the 麻豆影院 staff at the dawn of the digital statistics era and in the infancy of the university’s athletics website. He has become the university鈥檚 de facto athletics historian along the way.
