Coconino News

The Northern Arizona University (NAU) athletic department has announced that 59 of its student-athletes have been named to the Big Sky Conference Fall All-Academic team. This recognition comes as a result of their performance in both academics and athletics during the fall semester.

To qualify for this honor, student-athletes must meet several criteria: participation in at least half of their team's competitions, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale by the end of the term, and completing at least one academic term at their current Big Sky institution. For cross country athletes, they must also have participated in at least half of their team's competitions or competed at the conference championship.

The Big Sky Conference placed a total of 657 athletes from various sports including football, men's and women's cross country, women's soccer, and volleyball on its Fall All-Academic team. NAU's representation increased from 52 student-athletes last year to 59 this year. Football led with 22 selections, followed by soccer with 14, volleyball with eight, men's cross country with eight, and women's cross country with seven.

Of those honored from NAU, 44 students achieved a GPA of at least 3.50 while seven maintained a perfect GPA of 4.0. Across the five sports represented by NAU on this list, there was notable success not only academically but also competitively; both men's and women's cross country teams were crowned Big Sky Champions and finished as runners-up in the NCAA National Championships.

In addition to these achievements within fall sports teams, over 48 percent of all NAU student-athletes made it onto the Dean's List during this semester. Nine teams had more than half their roster represented on this list while nine teams recorded GPAs above 3.4 overall.

A complete list detailing individual accomplishments across different sports follows below:

**Volleyball:** Savannah Bloom (Sr., Marketing), Jordan Cherniss (R-So., Mechanical Engineering), Keira Hall (Jr., Hotel & Restaurant Management), Kylie Moran (So., Hotel & Restaurant Management), Neche Newton (5th Yr., Environmental & Sustainable Studies), Millie O'Ketter (Sr., Strategic Communications), Karya Suvarioglu (Jr., Psychological Sciences), Sophia Wadsworth (R-So., Marketing).

**Soccer:** Jaylin Borden (Graduate Student - Masters in Human Relations), Olivia Bos (Sophomore - Criminology & Criminal Justice), Morgan Caslin (Sophomore - Communication Sciences & Disorders), Trinity Corcoran (Junior - Finance), Holly Hunter (Junior - Psychological Sciences), Carly Lantz (Junior - Nutrition & Foods), Allie Larsen (Graduate Student - Masters in Human Relations), Joey Lujan (Junior - Public Health), Molly Massman(Graduate Student-Masters In Human Relations ), Josie Novak(Senior-Criminology And Criminal Justice ), Avery Ott(Sophomore-Business Management ), Grace Quinn(Senior-Exercise Physiology ), Maddie Shafer(Senior-Fitness Wellness ) , Kayla Shebar(Junior-Fitness Wellness ).

**Men’s Cross Country:** Kang Nyoak(Jr.-Exercise Physiology ), John Scherer(So.-Biology ), Corey Gorgas(Jr.-Psychological Sciences ) , Brodey Hasty(Sr.-Educational Leadership–Community College/Higher Education) , Cael Grotenhuis(So.-Exercise Physiology) , Nico Young(Jr.-Health Sciences–Nutrition And Foods) , Drew Bosley(Sr.–Educational Foundations ) , Theo Quax(Sr.–Human Relations ).

**Women’s Cross Country:** Anna Fenske(So.–Biomedical Sciences) Gracelyn Larkin(Sr.–ESL&Bilingual Education) Ruby Smee(J r .–ESL&Bilingual Education ) Maggi Congdon(J r .–Civil Engineering ) Annika Reiss Sr . Elementary Education Aliandrea Upshaw J r Health Science s –Public Health Meagan Van Pelt Sr Community College Teaching Learning .

**Football:** Que Baker-McCaulay Sr Psychological Science s Ethen Cluff R So Health Science Fitness Wellness Tommy Ellis Jr Business Economics Angel Flores R Fr Health Science Fitness Wellness Jack Forsyth Jr University Studies Michael Harkins Jr Hotel Restaurant Management Mark Ho Ching Sr Sociology Krikour Koustanian Sr Master 's Organizational Leadership Richard Kwete R So Health Science Fitness Wellness Marcus Lye So Alofaletuia Maluia R So Strategic Communication Coleman Owen R Jr Master 's Business Administration Marcus Phillips J r Senior Football Quinlan Popham R Soph Finance Porter Reynolds Freshman Engineering Daniel Robledo Redshirt Senior Alexis Sanchez Redshirt Freshman Civil Engineerin g Kevin Sawitzke Redshirt Freshmen Psychological Science Bryzai White Junior Journalism Jeff Widener Redshirt Junior Management Jhasi Wilson Senior University Study Brandon Wong Sophomore Exercise Physiolog y