Friday, July 22, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – A total of 156 Great Northwest Athletic Conference student-athletes, including 106 women and 49 men, are the recipients of the fifth annual GNAC Faculty Athletic Representative’s Scholar-Athlete Award.

Presented annually to the most outstanding student-athletes at each GNAC institutions, the award honors those athletes who have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or better. All student-athletes, including redshirts, listed on any squad list at a GNAC full member school, regardless of whether the sport is a GNAC championship sport, are eligible for the award. Conference affiliated members could nominate student-athletes from the sport in which they compete in the GNAC.

Thirty-seven of this year’s recipients (15 male and 22 female) attending U.S. colleges have compiled perfect 4.00 GPAs. In addition, three Simon Fraser student-athletes have GPAs of 4.00 or better in the Canadian system that awards 4.33 points for an A-plus.

The list features 65 repeat selections (22 male and 43 female) and 11 four-year selections. This year’s four-time selections include Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach and Linnea Doumas, Alaska Anchorage’s Marie-Sophie Boggasch and Simone Parker, Central Washington’s Kiah Jones, Montana State Billings’ Jinise Trueblood, Northwest Nazarene’s Taylor Simmons, Saint Martin's Nathan Morgan, Seattle Pacific’s Shaylene Page and Simon Fraser’s Lorenzo Smith and Mackenzie Field.

A faculty athletic representative (FAR) is a member of the faculty at an NCAA member institution who has been designated to serve as a liaison between the institution’s faculty and the athletic department. The FAR serves as a representative of the institution in conference and NCAA affairs.

The role of the FAR is “to ensure that the academic institution establishes and maintains the appropriate balance between academics and athletics.”