PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference honored the top student-athletes in both academic and athletic achievement on Tuesday setting a conference record for the third-straight year with 426 recipients of the Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Barnes and Noble College.
 
There were 276 female athletes, and 150 male athletes honored.
 
The FAR Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Barnes and Noble College, recognizes all student-athletes listed on any team at all GNAC institutions, regardless of sponsorship from the conference, that have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.85 or greater.
 
Hunter Beirne of the Seattle Pacific University Women's Basketball team joins elite company after earning the award for an unprecedented sixth time in her career. 10 student-athletes garnered the award for the fifth time in their careers: Rilee White (Alaska Fairbanks Volleyball), Dyauni Boyce (Montana State Billings Women's Basketball), Kate Bleffert (Northwest Nazarene Women's Soccer), Allison Wolf (Northwest Nazarene Women's Soccer), Maddy Vu (Saint Martin's Track & Field), Annika Esvelt (Seattle Pacific Cross Country and Track & Field), Hannah Hair (Seattle Pacific Volleyball), Amity Deters (Western Oregon Track & Field), Lindie Larson (Western Oregon Track & Field), and Dylan Breuer (Northwest Nazarene Track & Field).
 
CWU once again boasts the most FAR Scholar-Athlete Award recipients for the fourth consecutive year with 68 honorees. Scottie Ellsworth (Volleyball) and Reese Schimmel (Softball) received the award for the fourth time in their careers. 11 CWU student-athletes received the award for the third time in their careers: Annelise Bauman (Women's Soccer), Shelby Blodgett (Women's Basketball), Payton Elenbaas (Track & Field), Kylee Gregory (Women's Soccer), Madi Haack (Women's Soccer), Lilly Thomas (Women's Rugby), Cady Wilton (Softball), Quaid Hunt (Men's Rugby), Taine Jones (Men's Rugby), Brett McCalla (Football), and Kennedy McGill (Football).
 
A faculty athletic representative 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."
 
See the full GNAC release HERE

CENTRAL WASHINGTON MALE HONOREES

Name	Sport	Academic Major	Year	GPA	Hometown
Drake Anderson	Baseball	Physical Education & School Health	Jr.	3.86	Enumclaw, WA
Matthew Bender	Track & Field	Environmental Science	Fr.	3.97	East Wenatchee, WA
Charlie Bennett	Football/Track & Field	Mathematics & Secondary Education	Fr.	4.00	Ellensburg, WA
Justin Birch	Baseball	Sport Management	Jr.	4.00	Honoka'a, HI
Logan Blank	Baseball	Physical Education & School Health	Jr.	3.93	Bellevue, WA
Ryder Brader	Football	Sport Management	Jr.	3.98	Port Orchard, WA
Peyton Cunningham	Football	Business Administration	Fr.	3.90	Bothell, WA
Luke Gale	Football	Mechanical Engineering & Technology	Fr.	3.87	East Wenatchee, WA
*Brady Goff	Football	Construction Management	So.	3.93	Bothell, WA
*Connor Goff	Football	Physical Education & School Health	So.	3.93	Bonney Lake, WA
Jackson Hagopian	Football	Exercise Science	Jr.	4.00	Mission Viejo, CA
**Quaid Hunt	Rugby	Biology	Jr.	3.92	Denver, CO
**Taine Jones	Rugby	Business Administration	Jr.	3.98	Folsom, CA
*Marcus Manzardo	Baseball	Clinical Physiology	Sr.	3.98	Coeur d'Alene, ID
**Brett McCalla	Football	Sport Management	Jr.	3.95	Manhattan Beach, CA
Caden McDonald	Football	Sport Management	Fr.	3.88	West Linn, OR
**Kennedy McGill	Football	Sport Management	Jr.	3.94	Bothell, WA
Ethan Moore	Cross Country/Track & Field	Applied Mathematics	Fr.	4.00	East Wenatchee, WA
Jacob Naso	Football	Communications	Jr.	3.90	Foothill Ranch, CA
Charlie Naught	Cross Country/Track & Field	Biology	Fr.	3.93	Yakima, WA
Beau Phillips	Football	Construction Management	Fr.	3.87	Snoqualmie, WA
*Ethan Pletcher	Football	Professional Pilot	So.	4.00	Graham, WA
*Benji Ward	Rugby	Computer Science	So.	3.98	Christchurch, New Zealand

CENTRAL WASHINGTON FEMALE HONOREES

Name	Sport	Academic Major	Year	GPA	Hometown
Addie Allen	Volleyball	Business Administration	Fr.	4.00	Billings, MT
Carmen Anderson	Soccer	Undecided	Fr.	4.00	Missoula, MT
Elisa-Manaia Atuaia	Rugby	Business Administration	Fr.	3.85	Hau'ula, HI
*Natalie Barta	Cross Country/Track & Field	Biology	So.	3.88	West Yellowstone, MT
**Annelise Bauman	Soccer	STEM Teaching	Jr.	3.86	East Wenatchee, WA
**Shelby Blodgett	Basketball	Public Health	Sr.	3.95	Clatskanie, OR
Helayna Bonilla	Cross Country/Track & Field	Business Administration	Fr.	3.86	Federal Way, WA
Asher Cai	Basketball	Exercise Science	Jr.	3.88	Colfax, WA
Mychael Carbon	Soccer	Psychology	Fr.	3.90	Corona, CA
Hannah Clements	Track & Field	Undeclared	Fr.	3.90	Naches, WA
Payton Conover	Cross Country/Track & Field	Elementary Education	Fr.	4.00	Lynnwood, WA
Sam Delay	Track & Field	Business Administration	Fr.	3.93	Wenatchee, WA
Lainee Derry	Soccer	Clinical Physiology	So.	3.85	Sherwood, OR
Halle Dilger	Softball	Business Administration	Fr.	4.00	Kennewick, WA
**Payton Elenbaas	Track & Field	Physical Education & School Health	Sr.	3.86	Lynden, WA
***Scottie Ellsworth	Volleyball	Arts & Sciences	Jr.	3.99	Kent, WA
*Ashtyn Falor	Softball	Physical Education & School Health	Sr.	3.85	Arlington, WA
Alex Flohr	Softball	Business Administration	Fr.	3.87	Snohomish, WA
*Kelsey Fulton	Soccer	Business Administration	So.	3.85	Richland, WA
Aja Good	Rugby	Sport Management	Jr.	3.86	Lake Country, BC
**Kylee Gregory	Soccer	Arts & Sciences	Sr.	3.87	Discovery Bay, CA
**Madi Haack	Soccer	Clinical Physiology	Jr.	3.99	Maple Valley, WA
*Camryn Holterhoff	Cross Country/Track & Field	Elementary Education	So.	3.88	Moses Lake, WA
*Sami Huber	Soccer	Clinical Physiology	So.	3.99	Gig Harbor, WA
Julie Johnson	Cross country/Track & Field	Chemistry	Fr.	3.92	Puyallup, WA
Kaitlyn Leaverton	Volleyball	Exercise Science	Fr.	4.00	Yakima, WA
Rylee Leishman	Basketball	Elementary Education	So.	3.86	Ellensburg, WA
Sydney Madison	Soccer	Biology	Fr.	3.91	Santa Maria, CA
*Ellie Marble	Volleyball	Physical Education & School Health	So.	4.00	La Conner, WA
*Zoë McDevitt	Cross Country/Track & Field	Sport Management	Jr.	3.89	Peshastin, WA
Shannah Mellick	Soccer	Undecided	Fr.	3.89	Yakima, WA
*Ellie Prazer	Track & Field	Biology	So.	4.00	East Wenatchee, WA
Reagan Perez	Rugby	Law & Justice	Fr.	3.96	Denver, CO
*Alena Ross	Track & Field	Professional Pilot	So.	4.00	Kalama, WA
***Reese Schimmel	Softball	Business Administration	Sr.	3.95	Rainier, OR
Emily Shaw	Basketball	Undecided	Fr.	4.00	Long Beach, CA
Ava Shiflett	Soccer	Biology	Fr.	3.97	Quilcene, WA
Audrey Smith	Track & Field	Psychology	Fr.	4.00	Naches, WA
**Lilly Thomas	Rugby	Business Administration	Jr.	3.85	Lehi, UT
Mya VanderYacht	Volleyball	Accounting	Fr.	4.00	Lynden, WA
*Jordan Volstad	Soccer	Biology	So.	3.95	Brooklyn Park, MN
Kennedy Webb	Volleyball	Accounting	So.	3.85	Yakima, WA
Kailey Willsey	Volleyball	Undecided	Fr.	4.00	Yakima, WA
Peyton Wilson	Soccer	Elementary Education	Fr.	4.00	Sammamish, WA
**Cady Wilton	Softball	Elementary Education	Sr.	3.93	Kent, WA

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