Established by the MIAA in 2022, “A Game” Scholar Athlete Award acknowledges the overall excellence of a student-athlete by recognizing one individual who has contributed to their team’s success, while also achieving the highest academic standard among peers. The student-athlete honored with the “A Game” Scholar Athlete Award must be an active member on a qualifying team and must have a minimum of two-terms completed at the institution.

The “A Game” Scholar Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating in a non-MIAA championship sport (football and wrestling) or during the MIAA’s 16 championships. 
 

SELECTION CRITERIA

- Student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and in at least his or her second year of competition at their current institution in any sport.

- Student-athlete is an active member on the roster and eligible in his or her sport or for the championship. 

- Credits completed shall only consist of those credits accumulated at the current institution and shall not include any transfer or AP credits. Dual credits earned from the current institution would be accepted. 

- Only undergraduate GPA is applicable. If the student-athlete has graduated from your institution and is in graduate school, he or she is still eligible for the award, but consideration will be based strictly on an undergraduate GPA, so just include undergrad GPA and credits on the form. Graduate students must be in good academic standing with the university.

- Each student-athlete is only eligible to win the award once per academic year, even if he or she participates in more than one sport.

 

---

 

2024-25 "A GAME" SCHOLAR-ATHLETES:  Women's Cross Country – Mara Hemmer (Nebraska Kearney)  Women's Soccer – Emily Hutchings (Fort Hays State) Volleyball – Lexi Stephens (Nebraska Kearney)  Women's Indoor Track & Field – Addie Hinterweger (Pittsburg State) Women's Basketball – Sydney Holmes (Pittsburg State) Women's Golf – Lily Allman (Missouri Southern) Softball – Regan Curry (Fort Hays State) Women's Tennis – Anastasia Pesic (Emporia State)                                   Sheriden Wichman (Emporia State) Women's Outdoor Track & Field – Abby Kinney (Missouri Western)                                                              Jessica Saunders (Fort Hays State)	Men's Cross Country – Tanner Cooper (Nebraska Kearney)  Football – Cody Watson (Missouri Western) Wrestling – Crew Howard (Nebraska Kearney) Men's Indoor Track & Field – Nathan Hinrichs (Pittsburg State) Men's Basketball – Ethan Kilgore (Missouri Western) Men's Golf – Zach Vandervoort (Washburn)  Men's Tennis – Ramon Strassmann (Ouachita)  Men's Outdoor Track & Field – Alessandro Di Gregorio (Washburn) Baseball – Ryan Sauter (Emporia State)
2023-24 "A GAME" SCHOLAR-ATHLETES:  Women's Cross Country – Marissa Dick (Pittsburg State) Women's Soccer – Kassidy Collins (Central Oklahoma) Volleyball – Lily Kurz (Missouri Western) Women's Indoor Track & FIeld – Nicole Messbarger (Nebraska Kearney) Women's Basketball – Molly Hartnett (Northwest Missouri)  Women's Golf – Lily Allman (Missouri Southern)  Women's Tennis – Lara Schmid (Washburn) Softball – Abby Allnutt (Central Missouri) Women's Outdoor Track & Field – Ashley Cookson (Emporia State)	Men's Cross Country – Blake Phillippi (Rogers State) Football – Evan Taylor (Pittsburg State) Men's Indoor Track & Field – Jack Watson (Emporia State) Men's Basketball – Ethan Kilgore (Missouri Western)  Wrestling – Crew Howard (Nebraska Kearney) Men's Golf – Dylan Bagley (Missouri Southern) Men's Tennis – Teodor Zlatar (Harding) Baseball – Easton Bruce (Washburn) Men's Outdoor Track & Field – Blake Morgan (Northwest Missouri)
2022-23 "A GAME" SCHOLAR-ATHLETES:  Women's Cross Country – Hannah Wiebe (Fort Hays State) Women's Soccer – Kylie Mathis (Missouri Western) Volleyball – Michaela Bartels (Nebraska Kearney) Women's Indoor Track & Field – Camilla Roy (Pittsburg State) Women's Basketball – Olivia Nelson (Central Missouri) Women's Tennis – Vera Alenicheva (Northwest Missouri) Women's Golf – Gabrielle Posch (Newman) Softball – Abby Allnutt (Central Missouri) Women's Outdoor Track & Field – Kynzie Underwood (Emporia State)	Men's Cross Country – Jacob Oyler (Missouri Western) Football – Evan Taylor (Pittsburg State) Wrestling – Joel Ridle (Central Missouri) Men's Indoor Track & Field – Ben Arens (Nebraska Kearney) Men's Basketball – Dillon Bailey (Northeastern State) Men's Tennis – Pedja Kolaric (Newman) Men's Golf – Grant Brennenman (Washburn) Baseball – Easton Bruce (Washburn) Men's Outdoor Track & Field – Dakota Schmidt (Northwest Missouri)