INDIANAPOLIS - The Great Midwest Athletic Conference was proud to announce Lake Erie College senior Gabe Kynard (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's HS) as the 2019-20 recipient of the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

A standout on the basketball court, Kynard was selected from a strong pool of applicants by a vote among faculty athletic representatives from Great Midwest member institutions. 

The Great Midwest Scholar-Athlete of the Year annually recognizes an individual for a combination of their athletic success and accomplishments in the classroom for the most recent academic year.

Kynard's extensive list of accolades include Great Midwest Player of the Year, D2CCA All-Midwest Region Team and NABC All-District Midwest Region Team. He was also a 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-District Team selection. 

The accounting major finished with a 3.87 GPA, graduating Summa Cum Laude and earning him first team academic all-district selection and CoSIDA Academic All-American status. Kynard earned the LEC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award due to his impressive classroom accomplishments, which also earned him the School of Business Academic Excellence Award.

The senior guard paced the league in scoring at 20.3 points per game while shooting .433 percent from the field. Kynard ranked second in the league in steals per game (1.6) and third in free throw percentage (.861).

He finished his career as the all-time leading scoring in school history with 1,873 points. He ranks fifth in conference history in points and points-per-game by a single player in a single season. 

Kynard completed an internship with Parker Hannifin Corporation and worked with the community of Painesville helping low income taxpayers prepare their income tax returns.

Other finalists on the ballot for the 2019-20 award included Hillsdale's Julien Clouette (tennis), Walsh's Alec Graves (baseball), Cedarville's Jarod Hoelzen (golf), Tiffin's Bryan LaVearn (wrestling), Findlay's Aaron Overhiser (basketball), Malone's Eric Mullet (baseball) and Trevecca Nazarene's Ryan Rozic (golf).