BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A total of 30 Western Washington University student-athletes have been named recipients of Great Northwest Athletic Conference Faculty Athletics Representative's Scholar-Athlete awards for the 2019-20 academic year.
 
The GNAC Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Barnes and Noble College, capped a historic season of academic awards and honors for WWU student-athletes.
 
In addition to the 30 FAR award recipients, a record 111 student-athletes earned GNAC Academic All-Conference honors, nine were selected Academic All-District and Ryan Schaefer (men's soccer) and Aliyah Dawkins (track & field) were voted Academic All-Americans.
 
Throughout the three-quarter academic year, WWU's student-athletes combined for a cumulative 3.29 GPA with 14 of 15 varsity programs totaling a team GPA of 3.00 or better. The men's soccer program (3.46) ranked 2^nd and the women's rowing program tied for 3^rd (3.41) in their respective sports in the recent GNAC Academic All-Sports Academic Awards.
 
2019-20 WWU Athletics Academic Pride Points:

• 30 FAR Award Winners
• Overall 3.29 GPA for nearly 300 student-athletes
• 111 GNAC Academic All-Conference honors
• 9 CoSIDA Academic District 8 honors
• 2 Academic All-Americans
• 14 of 15 programs finished with team GPA over 3.00

Presented annually to the most outstanding student-athletes at each GNAC institution, the FAR Award honors student-athletes who have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or better. All student-athletes, including redshirts and true freshmen, listed on any squad list at a GNAC full-member school, regardless of whether the sport is a GNAC championship sport, are eligible for the award. A record 322 GNAC student-athletes, 86 men and 236 women, were recognized with FAR awards with 145 as repeat selections from last year.
 
WWU's 30 selections featured 10 men's and 20 women's student-athletes, with the men's and women's track & field and cross country programs accounting for 11 of the 30 awards. The nationally-ranked women's rowing program had five FAR award winners, while men's and women's soccer each had four and volleyball had three.
 
Senior cross country and track & field runner Aundrea Koger (Osage City, KS) and senior men's soccer player Cameron Unks (Centennial, CO) both earned the award for the fourth time during their student-athlete careers at WWU. Koger graduated with a 3.91 GPA while majoring in Bio-Ecology and German, while Unks graduated with a 3.87 GPA in cell & molecular biology. Junior rower Maddie Bangasser (Sammamish, WA) and sophomore Tess Biscup (Duvall, WA) became three-time award winners. 
 
Here is a list of the 30 WWU student-athletes honored with 2019-20 FAR Awards from the GNAC:

Women	Sport	Academic Major	Year	GPA	Hometown
Maddie Bangasser***	Rowing	Kinesiology	Jr.	3.89	Sammamish, WA
Tess Biscup***	Volleyball	Business Management	So.	3.93	Duvall, WA
Anneka Bostrom**	Rowing	Environmental Policy	Jr.	3.88	Arlington, WA
Ella Brinkman	Rowing	Interdisciplinary Studies	So.	3.85	Sebastopol, CA
Aliyah Dawkins**	Track & Field	Biochemistry	So.	3.97	North Mankato, MN
Tatum Dow	Softball	Physical Education & Health	Jr.	3.89	Issaquah, WA
Grace Eversaul	Soccer	Environmental Science	Jr.	3.87	Vancouver, WA
Madison Fassiotto	Track & Field	Communication Studies & Disorders	Fr.	3.86	Portland, OR
Claire Henninger**	Soccer	Kinesiology	So.	3.93	Sequim, WA
Aundrea Koger****	T&F/XC	Bio-Ecology/German	Sr.	3.91	Osage City, KS
Jillian Langei	Soccer	Biology	Fr.	4.00	Bellingham, WA
Allison Lepp	Soccer	Undeclared	Fr.	4.00	Minot, ND
Anna Maracich**	Volleyball	Behavioral Neuroscience	R-Fr.	3.95	Auburn, WA
Hannah Nienaber**	Track & Field	Environmental Science	Jr.	3.89	Battle Ground, WA
Mackenzie Palmer	Softball	Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management	Jr.	3.86	Federal Way, WA
Chloe Roetcisoender	Volleyball	Elementary Education	So.	3.87	Duvall, WA
Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks	Rowing	Political Science	Fr.	4.00	Anchorage, AK
Rachael Schick	Rowing	Environmental Science	Jr.	3.85	Anchorage, AK
Annika Taylor	T&F/XC	Environmental Studies	So.	3.87	Poulsbo, WA
Carley Zaragoza	Basketball	Environmental Science	Fr.	3.97	El Dorado, CA
Men	Sport	Academic Major	Year	GPA	Hometown
Mosey Brown	Track & Field	Computer Science	Fr.	4.00	Seattle, WA
Gus Diehl**	Soccer	Finance	So.	3.93	Bellingham, WA
Solomon Duke	T&F/XC	Energy Science & Technology	Fr.	4.00	Portland, OR
Kale Engebretsen	Track & Field	Engineering & Design	Fr.	4.00	Enumclaw, WA
Ryan Greenwalt	Track & Field	Computer Science	Fr.	3.87	Kirkland, WA
Ethan Karlinsey	T&F/XC	Computer Science	So.	3.94	Kenmore, WA
Jeremiah Lee	Soccer	Master's of Business Administration	Sr.	3.87	Marysville, WA
Bryce Rosenwald**	T&F/XC	Philosophy/Psychology	So.	4.00	Bellevue, WA
Alessandro Tomasi**	Soccer	Spanish/International Business	R-Fr.	3.93	Bellingham, WA
Cameron Unks****	Soccer	Cell & Molecular Biology	Sr.	3.87	Centennial, CO
* = Number of career FAR Awards

A faculty athletic representative (FAR) is a member of the faculty at a NCAA member institution who has been designated to serve as a liaison between the institution's faculty and the athletic department. The FAR serves as a representative of the institution in conference and NCAA affairs.
 
The role of the FAR is "to ensure that the academic institution establishes and maintains the appropriate balance between academics and athletics."
 
Dr. Bruce Larson is the current dean of WWU's Woodring College of Education and is in his second term as WWU's Faculty Athletic Representative.
  Western Washington University is a four-year public institution located in Bellingham, Washington, featuring over 300 student-athletes that compete for 15 intercollegiate athletic teams at the NCAA Division II level and primarily in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. WWU Athletics has finished in the top 50 in the NCAA II Learfield Directors' Cup standings in 15 of the past 16 years, and in the top 20 in eight of the last 12 years (no award in 2019-20). WWU's programs have won 11 team national championships, most recently the 2016 women's soccer team and the 2017 women's rowing team. Outside of competition. WWU's student-athletes have compiled an academic success rate near 90%, earning the NCAA's President's Award for Academic Excellence two of the last three years. 
 
During the shortened 2019-20 sports season, WWU had eight of nine possible teams represented in the NCAA Championships. Seven of those teams won Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, including going 5-for-5 during the fall sports season. In addition to the great success in competition, a record 111 student-athletes earned GNAC Academic All-Conference honors and 30 received the prestigious GNAC FAR Awards for maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.85. In competition, 64 student-athletes earned GNAC All-Conference honors and 12 Vikings achieved All-America status. 
  For more information on WWU's 15 varsity sports programs, visit WWUVikings.com. Fans and alumni can also track all the teams via social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat at @WWUAthletics.