KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) proudly announces the 2025 NAIA Scholar-Athletes for fall sports. This distinguished honor recognizes student-athletes who have excelled academically across football, men's cross country, men's soccer, women's cross country, women's soccer, and women's volleyball.

To earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete distinction, students must maintain a minimum cumulative 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale, appear on the eligibility certificate for their sport, and have completed at least one full year at their institution. This year's honorees represent outstanding academic achievement across the association.

Dordt (Iowa) led all institutions with 132 honorees, followed by Reinhardt (Ga.) with 86, Marian (Ind.) with 85, Kansas Wesleyan with 84, and College of Idaho with 83. Among conferences, the Great Plains Athletic Conference topped the list with 693 scholar-athletes, narrowly ahead of the Heart of America Athletic Conference with 690. The Crossroads League posted 538 honorees, while the Appalachian Athletic Conference and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference followed with 458 and 437, respectively.

Women's soccer led all fall sports with 1,606 scholar-athletes, followed by men's soccer (1,345), women's volleyball (1,231), football (1,129), women's cross country (617), and men's cross country (558).

UT Southern Scholar-Athletes

UT Southern proudly recognizes the following student-athletes for earning 2025 NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors. Each list is alphabetized by last name.

Women's Cross Country

• Olivia Barksdale

• Emma Vizina

• Amelia Worsley

Men's Cross Country

• Daniel Sanchez

• Amon Rotich

Women's Soccer

• Lauryn Amonette

• Olivia Ashurst

• Jamie Brown

• Kendra Brungardt

• Anna Franklin

• Cianna Gentry

• Molly Gross

• Rachel Hill

• Stephanie Hodgson

• Karis Knaggs

• Celia Powell

• Paige Stiles

• Hikaru Uchida

• Ellie Walker

Men's Soccer

• Dawson Atnip

• Riley Barratt

• Benjamin Chretien

• Hector Garcia

• George Grice

• Nick Miske

• Esteban Rangel

Women's Volleyball

• Ashley Cope

• Caity Griffin

• Emma Harding

UT Southern congratulates each of these student-athletes for their outstanding commitment to academic excellence and for representing the Firehawks with distinction both in the classroom and in competition.

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