KANSAS CITY, Mo - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) proudly announces the 2026 NAIA Scholar-Athletes for spring sports. Each semester, the NAIA Scholar-Athlete list celebrates student-athletes who excel in both academic and athletic arenas. This honor recognizes student-athletes in each of the spring sports who have excelled academically, including baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse, track & field, tennis, flag football, beach volleyball and men's volleyball.

To qualify as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete, students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, appear on the eligibility certificate for their sport, and have attended their institution for at least one full year. This year, the list features an impressive number of student-athletes who have met these rigorous standards.

The distribution of scholar-athletes by institution highlights a small group of schools that stand out for both academic and athletic engagement, with Dordt (Iowa) leading the nation at 125 honorees. Close behind are Marian (Ind.), Doane (Neb.), and Concordia (Neb.), all with near or above 95 selections. Schools such as Indiana Wesleyan, Reinhardt (Ga.) and Indiana Tech also show strong representation, indicating consistent institutional emphasis on academic performance among student-athletes. 

The sport breakdown reveals that the highest number of scholar-athletes come from baseball (1,333), women's track & field (1,219), men's track & field (1,029) and softball (1,199), each exceeding 1,000 athletes. Golf (M-427, W-379), tennis (W-289, M-271), and men's volleyball (237) follow closely behind in the 200-500 range, while women's beach volleyball (148) rounds out the list with a smaller but still notable total. 

Conference-level totals show that the Heart of America Athletic Conference (711) and Great Plains Athletic Conference (683) lead the scholar-athlete landscape, each contributing several hundred honorees. The Crossroads League (625) and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (506) follow closely, while the Appalachian (474), Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (466), Cascade Collegiate Conference (458) and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (413) all land in the 400 range. Rounding out the conference landscape, Frontier Conference (344) and The Sun Conference (340) boast over 300 scholar-athletes.

Women's track & field led the way for the Knights with 28 honors while men's track & field earned 17. Men's tennis wasn't far behind with ten while both women's tennis and softball earned nine honors. Women's lacrosse recorded eight honors while baseball recorded seven. Men's golf recorded five honors and women's golf rounded out the honors with four. 

Baseball:
Aidan Holtzapple
Eli Loichinger
Eli Kelly
Johnny Roeder
Kaden Patten
Nate Pinarski
Roman Utterback

Softball:
Abbey Hofmann
Abby Madere
Ally Malone
Ella Piercy
Emily Collins
Lauren Mayer
Lily Wendt
Macy Coan
Mystic Means

Men's Golf:
Lane Zedrick
Nolan Potter
Peyton Butler
Weston Ogden
Augie Mann

Women's Golf:
Hailey Kirkland
Jordan Adam
Keara Eder
Maria Kennard

Women's Lacrosse:
Allyson Cissell
Ella Grace Giedd
Esbeydi Montes
Grace Kercher
Marissa Bardo
Olivia Dean
Rylie Boezeman
Taleah Nool

Men's Tennis:
Afonso Ribeiro
Bogdan Precupescu
Isaac Lian
Iyan Cresens
James Ashworth
Jan Bartolome
Juan Garcia-Tunon
Marcos Ramos Cabrera
Max Sternberg
Shadi Al Tori

Women's Tennis:
Ana Barbosa Fernandez
Ana Lopez Torres
Elisa Roccaforte
Emma Chrome
Michelle Irigoyen
Lilliane Alinquant
Mara Schad
Sara Corrio Alemany
Yasmin Imamniyazova

Men's Track & Field:
Ben Moster
Ben Riehle
Brenden Endres
Brennan LaBelle
Caleb Carter
Charles Leedke
Connor Maple
Eric Materna
Everett Carlisle
Greg Hueston
Lucas Steward
Markevious Keys
Mason Piatt
Michael Runions
Peyton Doty
Tommaso Bruni
Tristan Trevino

Women's Track & Field:
Alli Taylor
Claire Lange
Emma Beimfohr
Emma Bock
Emma Edwards
Georgie Ashworth
Grace Goecke
Gracie Fields
Hadleigh Filipovich
Hanna Reuter
Holli Reuter
Bella Dean
Josie Feldman
Katie Woods
Kyla Booker
Lainey Roth
Madison Beaumont
Nhaydia Watson
Nina Marinkovic
Ozofu Magaji
Quynh Sedlacek
Rebeca Quezada
Sabrina Siems
Shirmara Anderson
Summer Rempe
Taylor Aselage
Tracey Gooch
Vivienne Siefker

The Knights have a light week ahead with Women's Golf competing for a Crossroads League Championship today and tomorrow in Columbus, Ind. Track and Field close out their regular season this weekend as they compete in their last chance meets in hopes of qualifying more athletes for the NAIA National Championship in Asheville, North Carolina. 

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