15 outstanding Scholar-Athletes of the Year, one for each sport in the Pacific West Conference, have been selected by the PacWest's College Sports Communicators.
From this group of 15, PacWest Athletic Directors will select the Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year. 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.
Eight of the 11 PacWest schools had a student-athlete earn the honor. Biola had three winners, while while Dominican, Fresno Pacific, Concordia, Point Loma and Azusa Pacific each had two Scholar-Athletes claim the prestigious award.
Here follows the 15 PacWest Scholar-Athletes by Sport.
BASEBALL--Cole Hillier, Point Loma, Junior, Pitcher, Glendora, California
3.91 GPA in his major of Exercise and Sports Science…Hillier earned First Team All-PacWest honors for the second-straight season, while also being selected to the D2CCA, ABCA and NCBWA All-Region Teams…He was voted to the CSC Academic All-America Second Team…Given the PLNU Carroll B. Land Leadership Award for best student-athlete leader on campus…In 23 appearances, he pitched 41.0 innings while striking out 49 batters and compiling a 2.20 ERA…He posted a record of 5-2 to go along with 9 saves, 6 of which were across multiple innings.
MEN'S BASKETBALL--Alex Wright, Biola, Graduate Student, Biola, Guard, Riverside, Calif.
3.82 GPA as an undergrad in Business Administration and 3.24 GPA in grad school (Business Finance)…First Team All-PacWest…CSC Academic All-District… PacWest Player of the Week…2020-21 Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year…Netted 15 points, 2.4 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game while hitting 45.6 percent of his three-point attempts…Three-point percentage ranked second in the PacWest…Second in the conference in average minutes played with 37.3…Ranked in the PacWest top 10 in six different stat categories.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL--Brittney Cedeno, Dominican, Senior, Guard, South San Francisco, California
3.925 GPA in her MBA pursuit…Named PacWest Defender of the Year and First Team All-PacWest…Averaged 13.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.1 steals, 3.1 assists and 0.6 blocks per game…Led all of NCAA Division II in steals per game and set a new single-season PacWest record with 118 steals…Set a single-game Dominican record with 12 steals to go with 12 rebounds and 14 points for her first career triple-double …Scored a career-high 28 points against Hawai'i Pacific on January 29…Finished with 19 points and 20 rebounds, the fourth most rebounds in a single game during Dominican's Division II era, in a 68-59 victory over Academy of Art…Scored in double figures in 23 games.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY--Bryan Banuelos, Fresno Pacific, Junior, Fresno, California
3.9 GPA in Software Engineering, Minors in Business Administration and Spanish…First Team All Pac-West ... Came in 5th in the 10k at the 2022 DII West Regional Cross Country Championships with a career best time of 30:26.9, earning All-West Region honors…Came in 2nd at the 2022 PacWest Cross Country Championships in the 8K with a time of 24:27.8...Finished second at the Seawolf Invitational.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY--Jori Paradis, Concordia, Senior, Silverton, Oregon
3.77 GPA in her major of Biology…First Team All-Conference after a seventh place finish at PacWest Championships…Also made All-West Region squad with a Top 24 finish at Division II West Regionals…Named CUI Co-Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Senior Awards Banquet…Finished in second place at the Coyote Challenge, earning Co-PacWest Runner of the Week honors.
MEN'S GOLF--Christian Schrodt, Dominican, Senior, Mission Viejo, California
4.0 GPA in his major of Business Administration…Second Team All-PacWest selection…Tied for third at the PacWest Championships with a three-round score of +4…Shot a 69 on the final day, the lowest score of the tournament, helping lead the Penguins to a second place finish…Finished -3 at the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout (T-9
th).
WOMEN'S GOLF--Ebba Wernered, Holy Names, Senior, Stockholm, Sweden
3.95 GPA in her major of Business Sports Management…First Team All-PacWest selection…Finished fifth at the PacWest Championships…Finished second at three different tournaments in 2022-23—the Sonoma State Invitational, the Stockton Invite, and the Bay Area Invitational…Earned PacWest Golfer of the Week honors for all three and had four such awards in her career.
MENS SOCCER--Kristian Colaci, Biola, Forward, Graduate Student, Milan, Italy
3.945 GPA majoring in Masters' of Business Administration…D2CCA Third Team All-American…PacWest Player of the Year…D2CCA All-West Region First Team…USCA All-West Region Second Team…CSC Academic Second Team All-American…Two-time PacWest player of the week....Led the PacWest in goals scored with 15, seventh in D-II…Led the conference in points with 33…Scored a goal in 12 matches, and three times scored twice...Help lead the Eagles to a co-PacWest title.
WOMEN'S SOCCER--Tori De Leon, Fresno Pacific, Senior, Forward, Fowler, California
4.0 GPA Spring Graduate with a MA School Psychology, School Pysch CD…Appeared and started in 17 matches with 1,378 total minutes ... Named PacWest Player of the Year ... Scored 9 goals ... Assisted on 3 goals ... Totaled 21 points ... Moved into 3rd all-time at FPU in career points with 66 ... 3rd all-time in career goals with 26 ... 4th all-time in assists with 14 ... 4th all-time in game-winning goals with 8 ... 1st all-time in games played with 73 ... named to the Fall Sunbird Scholars list.
SOFTBALL--Colby McClinton, Biola, Freshman, Shortstop, Kaneohe, Hawai'i
3.934 GPA majoring in Psychology...D2CCA First Team All-West Region...NFCA First Team All-West Region...PacWest Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year... First Team All-PacWest...Academic All-PacWest...Led the PacWest in batting average (.440), hits (73), on base percentage (.523), and on base plus slugging (1.095)...NFCA Freshman of the Year finalist...Easton/NFCA Academic All-American...Biola Freshman Athlete of the Year.
MEN'S TENNIS--Alexander Leischner, Point Loma, Sophomore, Aichach, Germany
Carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in his major of Mathematics…Leischner won the ITA DII West Region singles championship in the Fall, the first ever for a Sea Lion…Had a dominant spring season and was named the 2023 PacWest Player of the Year, becoming the first player in program history to achieve that feat…He finished the campaign with an 18-3 overall singles record and a 15-5 mark in doubles...This spring, he was also voted to the CSC Academic All-District and All-America First Teams…First Team All-PacWest in singles and doubles…Ranked 30
th nationally in the final ITA ranking for singles and 43
rd in doubles with Tyler Davis.
WOMEN'S TENNIS--Eleonora Liga, Azusa Pacific, Senior, Palermo, Italy
Liga held a 3.86 GPA while pursuing her Master's in Business Administration, where she graduated this past May...Was named an ITA All-American, ITA Most Improved Senior for the West Region, an All-PacWest First Team selection at singles and doubles, and a Third Team CSC Academic All-American…This season, Liga posted a 24-2 singles record at No. 1 for the Cougars. Her 24 wins set a new program record for singles victories in a season…She won in straight-sets on 21 occasions, and holding her opponents to two or fewer games won in 32 sets…From the middle of February through regional play in May, Liga went on a 23-match unbeaten streak. During that streak, Liga defeated the No. 1 player in the nation…In addition to her excellent play in singles, Liga and
Madison Kane posted a 22-4 doubles record at No. 1 for Azusa Pacific. Finished the season ranked No. 12 in singles and No. 13 in doubles.
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD--Dylan Fox, Concordia, Junior, Jumps, Irvine, California
3.90 GPA in Business Administration…First CUI men’s track and field member to both compete at the NCAA DII Championships and also be named Second Team All-American (Finished 11th overall in long jump)…Set school record on multiple occasions in the men’s long jump in his first season with the Golden Eagles…Won the Long Jump at PacWest Conference Championships with a leap of 7.55 meters (24-9 ¼). Named PacWest Men’s Field Athlete of the Week early in the season when he initially broke the CUI record in the long jump.
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD--Jaylah Walker, Azusa Pacific, Senior, Hurdles/Sprints, Riverside, California
Walker posted a 3.91 cumulative GPA as a graduate student pursuing a degree in Public Health and was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team…On the track, Walker closed out her decorated career with another tremendous season. She helped lead the Cougars to their second NCAA national title, as she became the 400 hurdles national champion for the second time in her career…She was an All-American in the 100 hurdles and a member of two school-record setting relay teams…She is now a 13-time All-American, which ranks her fourth all-time in school history… Walker was named the West Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, the PacWest Track Athlete of the Year, and the PacWest Track Athlete of the Meet at the conference championships, where she helped lead Azusa Pacific to its seventh-consecutive PacWest championship.
VOLLEYBALL--Alexia Byrnes, Chaminade, RS-Senior, Setter, Chicago, Illinois
PacWest Player of the Year and Setter of the Year ...Twice named All-PacWest First Team and All-West Region by the AVCA and D2CCA ...3.86 GPA in her major of Counseling Psychology…Helped team capture its second straight conference title and a spot in the West Region championship match ...Named to the West Region All-Tournament Team ... In just two seasons, ranks fifth in school history in assists...Fourth in the PacWest in assists per set (7.08) and was fifth in service aces (0.41).