Coconino News

Student-athletes, coaches, and staff from Northern Arizona University gathered to recognize academic achievements at the 45th annual Golden Eagle Awards. The event, held on Tuesday evening in Flagstaff, Arizona, highlighted the accomplishments of student-athletes across 15 sports.

The top honors were awarded to Coleman Owen from the football team and Emily Luberto from swimming and diving. Owen, majoring in finance with a perfect 4.0 GPA through Fall 2022, is a native of Gilbert, Arizona. Luberto hails from Phoenix and maintains a 3.96 GPA while studying environmental sciences.

The Golden Eagle Awards began in 1979 to honor student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically. Eligibility requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 and significant contributions in athletics.

Luberto has consistently led NAU's swimming and diving teams for four years, making the Western Athletic Conference's All-Academic list annually. She has been part of NAU's CSCAA Scholar All-America team for four seasons and contributed to ten consecutive WAC championships. In 2021, she won a gold medal on the platform event.

Owen is recognized as a four-time Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete and three-time Big Sky All-Academic team member. His accolades include being named All-Big Sky Honorable Mention (2021), Third-Team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele (2021), and All-Big Sky Third-Team (2022). He was also one of 30 students to receive the prestigious Golden Axe Award in November.

During his freshman year in 2021, Owen ranked among the top ten in receiving yards within the Big Sky conference. In 2022, he continued to rank highly in receptions and receiving yards, finishing with notable achievements including moving into ninth all-time for single-game receiving yards against Montana State.