IRVINE, Calif. – The PacWest recognized its annual scholar-athletes of the year for year of the 15 PacWest sports with Point Loma winning five of the awards as voted on by the PacWest’s Sports Information Directors.
Academy of Art’s
Julius Kreutzer was the one of two repeat selections. The PacWest golfer of the year recorded a 3.71 GPA in Music Production and Sound Design.
Along with Kreutzer, Concordia’s
McKinsey Thorpe and Azusa Pacific’s
Jakob Schnaitter, were also named Player of the Year and Scholar-athlete of the Year. Thorpe had a 4.00 in Coaching and Athletics Administration and Schnaitter had a 3.81 in Business Management.
Thorpe, who won the sixth-consecutive Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for Concordia, and Point Loma’s
Cara Liggins are the only student-athletes on the list with a 4.0 GPA. Liggins also won the award for the second time in her career. The other four scholar-athletes of the year are
Alli Kim, Courtney Dyer, Matt Abangan and
Emma Hinson. It is the third year in a row that Point Loma has had at least five student-athletes win the award.
Azusa Pacific had the second-highest total with three recipients.
Jacky Wagner, who was the PacWest Women’s Tennis Championships Most Outstanding Player and national champion
Chin Agina both join Schnaitter on the list.
Concordia and Biola both had two honorees.
Mike Ervin won the men’s track & field award for Concordia, while
Alex Wright and
RobertAnthony Cruz both won for Biola. Cruz was named to two All-American lists this year, and Wright led Biola to its first NCAA postseason berth for the men’s basketball program.
The cross country awards went to Chaminade’s
Elijah Bernardo-Flores and Hawai`i Hilo’s
Olivia Jarvis. Chaminade has now had at least one athlete make the list in eight different years, which is now the highest total of any PacWest school. For Hawai`i Hilo,
Olivia Jarvis is the first winner in school history after recording a 3.98 GPA in environmental science.
The 15 winners of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards will now go on to be nominees for the Male & Female Scholar-Athlete awards, which are the highest individual academic honor in the PacWest.
| 2020-21 PACWEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR |
| Sport |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Major |
| Baseball |
RobertAnthony Cruz |
Biola |
3.94 |
Christian Ministries |
| Softball |
McKinsey Thorpe |
Concordia |
4.00 |
Coaching & Athletics Administration |
| Men’s Tennis |
Jakob Schnaitter |
Azusa Pacific |
3.81 |
Business Management |
| Women’s Tennis |
Jacky Wagner |
Azusa Pacific |
3.94 |
Psychology |
| Men’s Track & Field |
Mike Ervin |
Concordia |
3.63 |
Behavioral Sciences |
| Women’s Track & Field |
Chin Agina |
Azusa Pacific |
3.79 |
Kinesiology |
| Men’s Golf |
Julius Kreutzer * |
Academy of Art |
3.71 |
Music Production & Sound Design |
| Women’s Golf |
Alli Kim |
Point Loma |
3.66 |
Applied Health Science |
| Men’s Basketball |
Alex Wright |
Biola |
3.82 |
Business Administration |
| Women’s Basketball |
Cara Liggins * |
Point Loma |
4.00 |
Business Administration |
| Volleyball |
Courtney Dyer |
Point Loma |
3.54 |
Management |
| Men’s Soccer |
Matt Abangan |
Point Loma |
3.68 |
Business Administration |
| Women’s Soccer |
Emma Hinson |
Point Loma |
3.56 |
Education |
| Men’s XC |
Elijah Bernardo-Flores |
Chaminade |
3.90 |
Criminology |
| Women’s XC |
Olivia Jarvis |
Hawai`i Hilo |
3.98 |
Environmental Science |