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Men's Swimming and Diving Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

Leo Nolles Honored with GLIAC Pat Riepma Postgraduate Scholarship

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- Standout Northern Michigan University swimmer Leo Nolles has been named a recipient of the 2025-26 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Pat Riepma Postgraduate Scholarship. 

The honor, which awards each recipient, one male and one female, $5,000 in aid to the graduate school of their choice, was voted on by the Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs) of the GLIAC member institutions.

Nolles is one of the most decorated student-athletes to go through the NMU swim and dive program. In his four seasons with Northern Michigan, the Maldonado, Uruguay native represented his country in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, is a 21x All-American, has earned three medals at the NCAA Championships, earned 19 GLIAC Championship medals with eight golds, and has both broken and is currently holding numerous NMU school and pool records.

At the time of writing, Leo has earned three CSC Academic All-District honors and one CSC Academic All-America honor, received a GLIAC Commissioner's Award and GLIAC Swimmer of the Year honor in 2025, and earned CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-American honors. 

Along with his dedication in the pool and training, Leo is dedicated to giving back to the community, and shows up for the Marquette community in many ways: he regularly volunteers with the Special Olympics, where he teaches and coaches specially abled athletes in swimming and resistance training, is engaged with Northern Center for Lifelong Learning where he shares his experiences as an Olympic athlete with actively engaged older adults, visits the Beacon House of Marquette to cook and socialize with families in difficult situations, volunteers at the Marquette Marathon with aid stations, volunteers to work at NMU sporting events, and helped rake leaves at Marquette Elementary School with his teammates. 

Leo will be returning to Northern Michigan University to pursue a Master's of Science in Exercise Science.

Nolles is now just the third student-athlete from Northern Michigan to receive this scholarship: Stephanie Howe of the cross country team during the 2005/06 school year, and Nathan Rotundo of the swimming and diving team during the 2018/19 school year. 

Follow this link for all things Pat Riepma Postgrad Scholarship Information.
 

The GLIAC Postgraduate Scholarship is named after former Northwood University Athletic Director and head football coach Pat Riepma who passed away in July of 2015 after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Pat spent over 21 years at Northwood and was the all-time winningest coach in football history as well as the long time Athletic Director. While his achievements on the field and on behalf of the athletic department are impressive, Pat will be forever remembered for the person he was. Pat was a passionate, spiritual man who inspired thousands of people even before he became sick. While Pat is gone, his mantra of "Go MAD"- Go Make a Difference, will live on.



 
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Players Mentioned

Leo Nolles

Leo Nolles

Senior

Players Mentioned

Leo Nolles

Leo Nolles

Senior