Monday, July 13, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – In another record year for academic recognition in the conference, a total of 322 student-athletes have been recognized with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Barnes & Noble College.

The 86 men and 236 women are being honored for compiling a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or better. All student-athletes listed on any squad at a GNAC member institution, regardless of whether the sport is a GNAC championship sport, are eligible for the award. Conference affiliate members could nominate student-athletes from the sport in which they compete for the GNAC.

The 322 honorees is well above the previous record of 248 honorees recognized during the 2018-19 academic year.

A total of 145 honorees, accounting for over 45 percent of the list, are repeat selections. The honorees include 81 student-athletes (24 men, 57 women) who finished the 2019-20 academic year with a GPA of 4.00 or better (Simon Fraser grades on a system which awards a 4.33 for an A-plus).

Two student-athletes have earned the FAR Scholar-Athlete Award for the fifth time in their careers: Concordia senior Katrina Linenko (track and field) and Simon Fraser senior Carli Grosso (soccer).

Twenty-seven student-athletes received their fourth award. Four-time men’s selections include Alaska Anchorage’s Dominic Unterberger (skiing), Central Washington’s Yi-An Pan (baseball), Concordia’s Adam Brown (track and field), Montana State Billings’ Sam Muskat (baseball) and Western Washington’s Cameron Unks (soccer).

Four-time women’s honorees include Alaska’s Kylie Wallace (basketball), Alaska Anchorage’s Natalie Hynes (skiing), Michaela Keller-Miller (cross country and skiing), Louisa Marie Knapp (gymnastics), Marie Ries (track and field) and Hannah Rudd (skiing); Central Washington’s Delaney Clem (cross country/track and field); Concordia’s Rebecca Harris (soccer) and Gabriella Hobson (cross country/track and field); Montana State Billings’ Amanda Hemmen (soccer) and Jeanann Lemelin (basketball); Northwest Nazarene’s Kourtney Gwin (track and field), Megan Nelson (volleyball), Corrinah Schaefer (soccer) and Tennyson Young (soccer); Saint Martin’s Marissa Miller (basketball); Seattle Pacific’s Sierra Smith (soccer) and Katherine Walter (cross country/track and field); Western Oregon’s Rachel Bayly (cross country/track and field), Selene Konyn (soccer) and Grace Knapp (cross country/track and field); and Western Washington’s Aundrea Koger (cross country/track and field).

In addition to the four-time honorees, a total of 39 student-athletes earned their third FAR Scholar-Athlete Awards.

Central Washington led the conference with 43 total FAR Scholar-Athlete Award recipients and had the most female student-athletes honored with 32. Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene each had 12 male honorees to lead the conference.

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 academic and athletics.”

2019-20 GNAC FACULTY ATHLETIC REPRESENTATIVE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS
Presented By Barnes & Noble College

**** - Five-Time FAR Award Recipient      
*** - Four-Time FAR Award Recipient      
** - Three-Time FAR Award Recipient         
* - Two-Time FAR Award Recipient