15 student-athletes best representing their sport in the classroom and on the fields and courts have been selected as Pacific West Conference Scholar Athletes of the Year in their respective sports.
Eight different PacWest schools can claim honorees on the impressive list. The winners were selected by the College Sports Communicators from the PacWest's 14 member schools.
2024-25 PacWest Scholar Athletes of the Year
| Sport |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Major |
| Baseball |
Isaiah Leon |
Biola |
3.97 |
Master's of Business |
| Softball |
Taylor Rodriguez |
Dominican |
3.70 |
Nursing |
| Men's Tennis |
Alexander Leischner** |
Point Loma |
4.00 |
Mathematics |
| Women's Tennis |
Audrey Rafols |
Dominican |
3.73 |
Nursing |
| Men's Track & Field |
Dylan Fox* |
Concordia |
3.91 |
Business Administration |
| Women's Track & Field |
Brianna Green |
Fresno Pacific |
3.78 |
Psychology |
| Men's Golf |
Nicolas-Guy Landry |
Menlo |
3.63 |
International Business |
| Women's Golf |
Ellexis Mingming |
Dominican |
4.00 |
Business Administration |
| Men's Basketball |
Zackry Paulsen* |
Point Loma |
3.96 |
Master's Organizational Leadership |
| Women's Basketball |
Alli McDonald |
Point Loma |
4.00 |
Master's Kinesiology Sports Performance |
| Volleyball |
Letizia Cammillucci |
Chaminade |
4.00 |
Master's Business Administration |
| Men's Soccer |
Simon Sagal |
Point Loma |
3.78 |
Undeclared |
| Women's Soccer |
Jaci Maze |
Azusa Pacific |
4.00 |
Biochemistry |
| Men's XC |
Jansen Gillig |
Fresno Pacific |
3.96 |
Kinesiology |
| Women's XC |
Jessica Kampman Walczak |
Azusa Pacific |
4.00 |
Master's Social Work |
*Previous PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year winner
From this group of winners, the overall 2024-25 Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year will be chosen, selected by the PacWest's Athletic Directors next week.
Point Loma led the way with four selections, followed closely by
Dominican with three.
Fresno Pacific and
Azusa Pacific were next with two each, while
Biola, Concordia, Menlo and
Chaminade each had a selection.
Point Loma men's tennis player
Alexander Leischner headlines the list. Leischner is the Scholar Athlete of the Year in his sport for the third straight year, carrying a 4.0 grade point average in his major of Mathematics. The senior is a seven-time All-PacWest selection in singles and doubles and holds the PacWest Championships record for most career singles wins at the conference tournament (11).
Fellow Sea Lion
Zackry Paulsen is also a repeat winner on the 2024-25 list. Paulsen led his basketball squad to PacWest regular season and tournament titles. The graduate guard has a 3.96 GPA in his MA Organizational Leadership program and was a First Team All-PacWest and All-West Region pick. He averaged 17.4 points per game for his team that reached the regional championship game.
Concordia's
Dylan Fox also is a two-time selectee, having also won in 2022-23. He has a 3.91 GPA in Business Administration. He is a three-time PacWest champion in the long jump, and earned First Team All-American honors this year with an eighth place leap at nationals. He is Concordia's Male Athlete of the Year.
Including Leischner, six student-athletes had perfect 4.0 GPA's. That group includes...
*Azusa Pacific's
Jessica Kampman Walczak was the PacWest cross country champion and has a perfect GPA in her Master's in Social Work.
*APU's
Jaci Maze has a 4.0 GPA in Biochemistry and was also a Soccer First Team All-PacWest pick. The senior was second in the conference in scoring with 22 points.
*Chaminade's
Letizia Cammillucci, a First Team All-PacWest volleyball selection and a AVCA Third Team All-American, has a 4.0 in her graduate work towards her MBA.
*Point Loma women's basketball star
Alli McDonald has a 4.0 GPA in MS Kinesiology Sports Performance program. She was the PacWest Newcomer of the Year, the PacWest Championships Most Outstanding Player, and a First Team All-PacWest pick.
*Dominican's
Ellexis Mingming has a 4.0 GPA through her sophomore year in Business Administration. She was a First Team All-PacWest Women's Golf honoree, finishing tied for second at the conference championships.
Also selected to this elite class are...
*Biola's
Isaiah Leon, a baseball star who has a 3.97 GPA in his Master's of Business. Leon also had a 4.0 undergraduate GPA and was named First Team All-PacWest this year and Second Team ABCA All-Region Second Team.
*Nursing major and softbll standout
Taylor Rodriguez from Dominican has a 3.70 GPA. She was named the PacWest Pitcher of the Year with 19 wins and a 1.55 ERA, and also hit six home runs with 28 RBI at the plate.
*Fellow Penguin and Nursing major
Audrey Rafols is the SA of the Year in women's tennis. The senior has a 3.73 GPA and was named First Team All-PacWest for singles with a 13-3 record. Rafols was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year for the West Region and was also awarded the West Region’s Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship award by the ITA.
*
Brianna Green of Fresno Pacific is the most decorated of this talented group. Green is a NCAA national champ in the 400 meter hurdles and also ran on FPU's national champion relay team (4x100). She was the PacWest Track Athlete of the Year and the PacWest Championships Track Athlete of the Meet.
*First-year PacWest member Menlo College has its first PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year in golfer
Nicolas-Guy Landry. Landry was a Second Team All-PacWest selection and is a senior with a 3.63 GPA in International Business.
*Cross Country runner
Jansen Gillig of Fresno Pacific is the Scholar Athlete of the Year for his sport. A 3.96 GPA in Kinesiology, Gillig was a Third Team All-PacWest honoree and is the FPU Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.
*Point Loma soccer player
Simon Sagal has a 3.78 GPA. The sophomore was a First Team All-PacWest and First Team All-Region selection and ranked second in the conference in assists with eight for the PacWest champion Sea Lions.
To see the complete all-time list of Scholar Athletes by sport, dating back to 2009-10,
click here.