Lakes graduate Ethan Greenfield awarded NCAA Division III Gagliardi Trophy

North Central College senior running back Ethan Greenfield has been named the recipient of the 2022 Gagliardi Trophy, the nation's highest honor for an NCAA Division III football student-athlete.

The Gagliardi Trophy, first presented in 1993, honors excellence not only in athletics but also in academics and community service. The annual award, presented by Jostens and the J-Club of Saint John's University (Minnesota), was announced Friday before the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl Division III national championship game.

Greenfield, a sport management major who graduated from Lakes High School in Lake Villa, is pursuing his master's degree in sports leadership. He had volunteered with Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, with Special Olympics and as a vacation Bible school camp counselor.

During the spring of 2022, Greenfield completed an internship with the North Central Sports Information Department as the lead statistician for the Cardinals' women's lacrosse team.

Greenfield sits atop the Cardinal career record books in rushing attempts (894), yards (6,550), touchdowns (86), yards per game (128.6), total points scored (558), total touchdowns (93), all-purpose yards (7,528), and all-purpose yards per game (142.3). He has also taken over the single-season record books with the most rushing yards, touchdowns and carries; he holds the top three records in each category.

In both 2019 and 2021, he led the nation in rushing yards, and he's leading the country in rushing yards for the 2022 season, with 1,910 yards before the Stagg Bowl.

Greenfield is also a three-time first team AP All-American selection, an AFCA All-American, and a three-time D3football.com All-American.

Greenfield becomes the second North Central football player to earn the Gagliardi Trophy, joining Neuqua Valley graduate Broc Rutter, NCC's quarterback, in 2019. Greenfield is the fifth running back to earn the award and first since 2012.