[Football] Ryan Zitkus named recipient of Bob Jurevitz Award

Senior defensive lineman Ryan Zitkus was named the recipient of the Bob Jurevitz Award at the St. Ambrose University Fall Sports Banquet Sunday afternoon.

The annual award, established in the summer of 2011, is named after Bob Jurevitz, a former St. Ambrose football great who passed away in November 2011 after a battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. It is presented to a St. Ambrose football player who best exemplifies the characteristics Jurevitz displayed both on and off the playing field. The award recipient is selected by the SAU football coaching staff and the Jurevitz family.

Bob Jurevitz Award recipients
2011 - John Michaletti
2012 - Alex Berg
2013 - Mitch Overstreet
2014 - Ryan Byrne
2015 - Keaton Jurevitz
2016 - Mitch Negangard
2017 - Jim Morrissey
2018 - Dillon Valdez
2019 - Ryan Zitkus

Zitkus, from Bloomington, Ill., earned second team all-conference honors this season after leading the Bees with 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He finished second on the team with 42 total tackles.

Zitkus's name now will be etched on a plaque inside the Lee Lohman Arena lobby, which is updated every year to list the all-time recipients of the award.

Bob Jurevitz was one of the most-prolific and hardest-working running backs in SAU history. He remains the second-leading rusher in school history, accumulating 5,126 yards on the ground during his career from 1982-85. He was the state of Iowa's all-time leading collegiate rusher at the time of his graduation in 1986.

The four-year team captain and team MVP scored a Bee-best 64 touchdowns in his career. During his senior season in 1985, he rushed for 1,424 yards and a still-school-record 27 touchdowns. He was inducted into the SAU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.

A plaque honoring Bob Jurevitz and a framed #44 jersey are permanently displayed in the SAU football locker room visible to every player entering and leaving the room.

Along with the Bob Jurevitz Award, the Champions of Character for each fall sport were announced based on five core values - integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. Leo Kesseler (men's cross country), Claire Duncan (women's cross country), Matthew Coovert (football), Mitchell Petrosky (men's soccer), Katie Pendleton (women's soccer) and Abby Happ (women's volleyball) were the recipients in their respective sports.

Nearly 400 SAU student-athletes and their parents attended the banquet in the Rogalski Center Ballroom to wrap up the fall sports seasons.