KANSAS CITY, Mo – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) proudly declares the 2026 NAIA Scholar-Athletes for winter sports activities. Each semester, the NAIA Scholar-Athlete listing celebrates student-athletes who excel in each tutorial and athletic arenas. This honor acknowledges student-athletes in every of the winter sports activities who’ve excelled academically, together with basketball, bowling, aggressive cheer, aggressive dance, swimming & diving and wrestling.
To qualify as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete, college students should preserve a minimal cumulative grade level common (GPA) of three.5 on a 4.0 scale, seem on the eligibility certificates for his or her sport, and have attended their establishment for no less than one full yr. This yr, the listing options a formidable variety of student-athletes who’ve met these rigorous requirements.
Ottawa University had 28 winter sport athletes named Daktronic Scholar Athletes.
Women’s Wrestling (8): Addison Saporito, Aileen Lester, Allie Dillon, Ciera Hutton-Spieker, Haley Flores, Livia Swift, Madison Rich, Peyton Hand
Men’s Basketball (4): Aisosa Erhabor, Alexander Riddick, Landyn Tyler, Samuel Rollins
Men’s Bowling (3): Darron Spak, Justin Preston, Justin Weddige
Women’s Basketball (7): Desiree Marshall-Penny, Dominique Schutte, Grace McPhail, Kaelynn Duncan, Kiersten Markos, Kimberly Cruz, Tiyani Rollins
Women’s Bowling (4): Emaree Nester, Jazel Tiquia, Ryann Clark, Taylor Lenz
Men’s Wrestling (2): Jayden Nowell, Spencer Rochelle
Women’s basketball headlines the scholar-athlete listing with 926 honorees. Men’s basketball follows with 659. Men’s wrestling, aggressive cheer and ladies’s swimming and diving spherical out the highest 5 every with over 200 athletes represented (265, 214 and 204, respectively).
The Heart of America Athletic Conference leads all conferences with 401 scholar-athletes. The Great Plains Athletic Conference follows with 367. Boasting 200+ scholar-athletes: Wholverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (252), Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (242), Crossroads League and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (223).
Full Daktronics Scholar-Athletes lists
Scholar-Athletes by establishment CLICK HERE
Scholar-Athletes by title CLICK HERE
Scholar-Athletes by convention CLICK HERE
Scholar-Athletes by sport CLICK HERE