Midland's Henri Stoeckermann named national scholarship winner

Midland track and field runner Henri Stoeckermann was named the A.O. Duer Scholarship award winner, a national scholarship given out by the NAIA, earlier this week.

He's the first Warrior to receive the award.

"I felt already honored to be selected for Midland," Stoeckermann said. "I am so thankful that I turned out to be the award winner for the NAIA. Super grateful for the people that got me there."

The scholarship, named in honor of the NAIA's former executive secretary, is given out annually to one male and one female junior student-athlete who has excelled in scholarship, character, and citizenship.

Faculty Athletic Representative Rita Bristol got the ball rolling with his nomination.

The citizenship aspect of the award came easy for Herrenberg, Germany native even though he was more than 5,000 miles from his home.

"I love to meet new people, I always think it's a great opportunity to see different perspectives because it's easy to get caught in the bubble of your sport," Stoeckermann said. "That was always the motivation to go out there and meet different people especially because I'm not from here. It was really tempting to see all of the different backgrounds that people have coming to this college."

Stoeckermann joined the Global Warriors, an on campus organization for international students at Midland, early in his time at Midland.

Last year, he helped expand the group's role by solving a problem facing some of his fellow international students—a lack of transportation to get off campus.

Stoeckermann was on a run one afternoon when he happened to come across a garage sale.

Amongst its wares was a bicycle.

"Up to that point, I always had to ask people for rides if I wanted to go out to the lakes or go get some groceries," Stoeckermann said. "It was pretty challenging because you couldn't just hop in your car and go, you had to plan ahead and were dependent on other people.

A bike would take him a lot farther than his legs, although very capable as a long distance runner for the Warriors cross country and track programs, could, so he inquired about purchasing it.

The woman running the garage sale gave it to him for free, so his run became a bike ride and he got a new expanded footprint to explore in Fremont. He spent his youth in Germany biking to and from school when the weather allowed, so he felt right at home on his 12-speed.

"I had it for half the semester then it got stolen," Stoeckermann said.

The momentarily glimpse into what the new-found transportation offered him flipped a switch as he realized he wasn't the only person restricted by a lack of wheels.

"There are a lot of other international kids here on campus that don't have a bike, don't get places and understand that struggle and there is nothing you can do except ask our teammates, but they're not always available," Stoeckermann said.

So he set about change things.

Through donations from the Fremont community, Stoeckermann, along with the Global Warriors and the office of Campus Ministry and Spiritual Wellness, ultimately passing out 20 bikes, helmets and locks in the first wave of giving through community donations.

He estimates they've given out more than 40 bikes, helmets and locks though the program by now.

"It's so amazing seeing so many bikes on campus now, everyone riding around," Stoeckermann said.

Stoeckermann also checked the academic box for the award, with a 4.0 GPA and a trio of NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.

Currently in his senior year, Stoeckermann has added an internship with the Munroe-Meyer Institute in Omaha, working within the youth severe behavior unit twice a week.

"Those are really long days," Stoeckermann said. "I usually get up at 6:50 a.m., work until five, drive back, get here by six, grab my track pack, go to lifting, hope that the boys aren't done yet, lift a little bit with them then go on my run."

As impactful of a leader as Stoeckermann has been on the Midland campus, his athletic aren't lacking either.

Stoeckermann already owns the school's indoor track 800-meter record and has qualified for the NAIA National championship three times. He's gunning to break one more record before he's done.

"I'm really looking at that outdoor school record," Stoeckermann said. "I've been looking at it since my freshman year."