IRVINE, Calif. – The sports information directors from the PacWest voted on the PacWest Scholar-Athletes of the Year from each of the 15 sports, and Concordia and Azusa Pacific led the way with four selections each.
The Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is given to the student-athlete in each sport that best combines athletic and academic performance in their sport with a minimum GPA of 3.0 to be eligible.
Concordia is represented by
Evan Larsen,
Josh Caston,
Angel Aguirre and
Lauren Lopez, which is the most honorees that the Eagles have earned in a single year. Azusa Pacific’s four selections are
Chin Agina,
Weston Ellis,
Sam Sippel and
Gregoire Diep, sweeping the track & field awards. Agina is the lone student-athlete to be a repeat selection for PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Hawai`i Hilo has two honorees with
Bria Beale in volleyball and
Daelenn Tokunaga in women’s soccer. Academy of Art also had two women’s selections with
Natalia Novak winning in cross country and
Nicole Shiau in tennis. Tokunaga was also voted the Player of the Year in women’s soccer, while Novak won the PacWest Championships in cross country.
Dominican’s
Claire Shubin was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s golf after winning the PacWest Championships, and
Riley Friauf won the award in women’s basketball for the Penguins. Hawai`i Pacific also earned one Scholar-Athlete of the Year award as two-time PacWest Men’s Golf Champion
Keita Okada was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Beale and Agina each had a 4.0 GPA to lead the group, while Shiau, Sippel, Lopez and Aguirre all had a 3.95 GPA or better as well.
| 2021-22 PACWEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR |
| Sport |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Major |
| Baseball |
Evan Larsen |
Concordia |
3.91 |
Organizational Leadership |
| Men’s Basketball |
Josh Caston |
Concordia |
3.87 |
Business Administration |
| Women’s Basketball |
Riley Friauf |
Dominican |
3.88 |
MBA |
| Men’s Cross Country |
Angel Aguirre |
Concordia |
3.95 |
Coaching & Athletics |
| Women’s Cross Country |
Natalia Novak |
Academy of Art |
3.71 |
Communications & Media |
| Men’s Golf |
Keita Okada |
Hawai`i Pacific |
3.11 |
Business Administration |
| Women’s Golf |
Claire Shubin |
Dominican |
3.64 |
Education Studies |
| Men’s Soccer |
Gregoire Diep |
Azusa Pacific |
3.93 |
Business Management |
| Women’s Soccer |
Daelenn Tokunaga |
Hawai`i Hilo |
3.83 |
Administration of Justice |
| Softball |
Lauren Lopez |
Concordia |
3.96 |
Business Administration |
| Men’s Tennis |
Sam Sippel |
Azusa Pacific |
3.97 |
Business Economics |
| Women’s Tennis |
Yun “Nicole” Shiau |
Academy of Art |
3.98 |
Communication & Media |
| Men’s T&F |
Weston Ellis |
Azusa Pacific |
3.83 |
Applied Exercise Science |
| Women’s T&F |
Chin Agina * |
Azusa Pacific |
4.00 |
Kinesiology |
| Volleyball |
Bria Beale |
Hawai`i Hilo |
4.00 |
Psychology |
*Previous PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year winner