By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An impressive 76 student-athletes representing fall sports programs at Fort Hays State were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, announced Wednesday (Dec. 12) by the league office. Additionally, six student-athletes earned the Scholar-Athlete Award while five also picked up the Academic Excellence Award. Included on the list are 25 players from the football team, 15 from volleyball, 13 from men’s cross country, 11 from women’s soccer, eight from men’s soccer and four from women’s cross country.
Individuals earning the Scholar-Athlete Award include Doyin Jibowu and Connor Shedeed from the football team, Yessenia Gonzales from the women’s cross country team, and Darby Hirsch, Vianei Sanchez, and Shayla Podlena representing women’s soccer.
Those Tigers with a perfect 4.00 GPA and earning the MIAA Academic Excellence Award include Zach Meyer from football, Tatum Bartels, Katie Darnell and Taylor White from volleyball and Darby Hirsch from women’s soccer.
Darby Hirsch was one of 15 athletes in the entire conference to receive both the MIAA Academic Excellence Award as well as the Scholar-Athlete Award, meaning she was just one of 15 fall athletes to earn All-MIAA honors while carrying a perfect 4.00 GPA.
To be recognized on the Academic Honor Roll, one must have a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of 3.00 at the certifying member institution. The individual must also have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. Transfers and true freshman are recognized at the conclusion of the school year, after they meet the two terms of attendance requirement.
To qualify as a Scholar-Athlete an individual must have a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of 3.50 at the certifying member institution. They must also have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. If competing in a championship sport of the MIAA, the student-athlete must earn All-MIAA honors.
An MIAA Academic Excellence Award recipient must have a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of 4.00 or better at the certifying member institution. The honoree also must have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms.
The complete list of Fort Hays State MIAA Academic Honor Roll recipients is below.
| Name | Sport | Year | GPA | Major | Hometown |
| Braden Archer | FB | R-Fr. | 3.41 | Marketing | Hutchinson, Kan. |
| Layne Bieberle | FB | Jr. | 3.25 | Tech Studies (Construction Management) | Claflin, Kan. |
| Isaiah Blackmon | FB | So. | 3.50 | Tech Studies (Construction Management) | Hays, Kan. |
| Hunter Budke | FB | R-Fr. | 3.15 | Management | Beloit, Kan. |
| Jose Delgado | FB | Sr. | 3.05 | HHP (Sport & Exercise Therapy | Derby, Kan. |
| Hayden Friend | FB | R-Fr. | 3.68 | Marketing | Plainville, Kan. |
| Chance Fuller | FB | R-Fr. | 3.57 | History (Education) | Arlington, Texas |
| Erin Gaither | FB | Sr. | 3.00 | Finance | Wichita, Kan. |
| Cooper Griffith | FB | So. | 3.01 | Agriculture (Animal Science) | Scott City, Kan. |
| Nathan Hale | FB | Sr. | 3.19 | History | Hutchinson, Kan. |
| Harley Hazlett | FB | Jr. | 3.23 | Radiologic Technology & HHP (General) | Abilene, Kan. |
| Layke Heimerman | FB | R-Fr. | 3.74 | Communication | Halstead, Kan. |
| Andrew Jay | FB | Jr. | 3.20 | Management | La Crosse, Kan. |
| Doyin Jibowu | FB | Sr. | 3.57 | Management | Denver, Colo. |
| Payton Mauler | FB | R-Fr. | 3.02 | Agriculture (Agronomy) | Great Bend, Kan. |
| Zach Meyer | FB | R-Fr. | 4.00 | Agriculture (Agronomy) & Biochemistry | Andale, Kan. |
| Jacob Mezera | FB | Sr. | 3.11 | HHP (Exercise Science) | Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Wyatt Parker | FB | Sr. | 3.04 | HHP (Sports Management) | Blue Springs, Mo. |
| Jordan Scarlett | FB | R-So. | 3.77 | Info Networking & Technology | Sedgwick, Kan. |
| Sheldon Schmidt | FB | Jr. | 3.32 | Tech Studies (Construction Management) | La Crosse, Kan. |
| Connor Shedeed | FB | Sr. | 3.81 | Criminal Justice & Political Science | Gretna, Neb. |
| Jordan Starks | FB | R-Fr. | 3.69 | Finance | Tulsa, Okla. |
| Jacob Taber | FB | So. | 3.54 | Tech Studies (Industrial Tech) | Sand Springs, Okla. |
| Kolt Trachsel | FB | Jr. | 3.31 | HHP (K-12 Teaching/Coaching) | Goodland, Kan. |
| Blake Wilson | FB | So. | 3.19 | HHP (K-12 Teaching/Coaching) | Wentzville, Mo. |
| Alex Barbosa | MXC | So. | 3.29 | Physics | Ulysses, Kan. |
| Israel Barco | MXC | R-Jr. | 3.29 | Chemistry | Elkhart, Kan. |
| Oscar Carmona | MXC | R-Sr. | 3.29 | HHP (General) | Dodge City, Kan. |
| Erik Chaparro | MXC | R-Fr. | 3.73 | Psychology | Garden City, Kan. |
| Kaleb Crum | MXC | R-So. | 3.69 | History (Education) | Lamar, Colo. |
| Michael Eisenbarth | MXC | Jr. | 3.77 | Communication (Public Relations) | Onaga, Kan. |
| Peter Franklin | MXC | Jr. | 3.76 | Biology (Health Professions) | Loveland, Colo. |
| Robert Loeffler | MXC | Jr. | 3.17 | English (Writing) | Newton, Kan. |
| Brett Meyer | MXC | Sr. | 3.19 | HHP (General) | Scott City, Kan. |
| Bill Oyet | MXC | R-Jr. | 3.26 | Management | Omaha, Neb. |
| Reed Rome | MXC | Jr. | 3.35 | Agriculture Business | Hugoton, Kan. |
| Robbie Schmidt | MXC | So. | 3.45 | Accounting | Topeka, Kan. |
| Layton Werth | MXC | Sr. | 3.74 | Agriculture (Agronomy) | Brewster, Kan. |
| Ross Boyd | MSOC | So. | 3.07 | HHP (Fitness Programming) | Topeka, Kan. |
| Antonio De La Torre | MSOC | So. | 3.03 | Marketing | Dodge City, Kan. |
| Raul Fierro | MSOC | Sr. | 3.16 | Finance | El Paso, Texas |
| Cullen Fisch | MSOC | Jr. | 3.21 | Biology (Natural Resources) | La Vista, Neb. |
| Caden Frank | MSOC | So. | 3.70 | Organizational Leadership | Omaha, Neb. |
| Nate Hendricks | MSOC | So. | 3.71 | Biology (Health Professions) | Wichita, Kan. |
| Christopher Johnson | MSOC | Sr. | 3.41 | Art (Graphic Design) | San Antonio, Texas |
| Tobias Patino | MSOC | Sr. | 3.12 | Finance | Asuncion, Paraguay |
| Tatum Bartels | VB | So. | 4.00 | HHP (General) | Phillipsburg, Kan. |
| Kyra Bellows | VB | R-Fr. | 3.94 | Elementary Education | Garden City, Kan. |
| Amirah Bentley | VB | So. | 3.35 | Undecided | Denver, Colo. |
| Kylie Brown | VB | So. | 3.86 | Nursing | Hays, Kan. |
| Katie Darnell | VB | R-Fr. | 4.00 | Nursing | Wichita, Kan. |
| Madison Elwood | VB | Sr. | 3.61 | Marketing | Frisco, Texas |
| Jordan Eshbaugh | VB | R-Fr. | 3.86 | Nursing | Concordia, Kan. |
| Abby Groth | VB | Sr. | 3.73 | Nursing | Santa Rosa, Calif. |
| Abbie Hayes | VB | Jr. | 3.78 | Tourism & Hospitality Management | Arvada, Colo. |
| Christianna Herron | VB | R-Fr. | 3.37 | Elementary Education | Kansas City, Kan. |
| Becca Page | VB | Sr. | 3.49 | Accounting | Parker, Colo. |
| Bayleigh Petty | VB | R-Fr. | 3.64 | HHP (Health Promotion) | Salina, Kan. |
| Ashley Webb | VB | Sr. | 3.17 | Marketing | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Morgan West | VB | So. | 3.72 | HHP (Exercise Science) | La Crosse, Kan. |
| Taylor White | VB | So. | 4.00 | Biology (Health Professions) | Silver Lake, Kan. |
| Rebeca Avelar | WXC | So. | 3.66 | HHP (K-12 Teaching/Coaching) | Johnson, Kan. |
| Grace Buessing | WXC | So. | 3.83 | Nursing | Wichita, Kan. |
| Tessa Durnell | WXC | Jr. | 3.33 | Communication Sciences & Disorders | Harwood, Mo. |
| Yessenia Gonzales | WXC | Sr. | 3.89 | Elementary Education | Elkhart, Kan. |
| Carmen Fanning | WSOC | So. | 3.73 | Biology | Lee’s Summit, Mo. |
| Bayly Herman | WSOC | Jr. | 3.45 | Elementary Education | Lyons, Colo. |
| Darby Hirsch | WSOC | Jr. | 4.00 | Nursing | Topeka, Kan. |
| Shayla Podlena | WSOC | Jr. | 3.62 | Communication Sciences & Disorders | Topeka, Kan. |
| Alex Polignano | WSOC | So. | 3.55 | Elementary Education | Falcon, Colo. |
| Sienna Rodriguez | WSOC | R-Fr. | 3.32 | Communication (Public Relations) | Bastrop, Texas |
| Vianei Sanchez | WSOC | Sr. | 3.66 | MBA | McKinney, Texas |
| Taryn Schnell | WSOC | Sr. | 3.49 | General Science (Biology) | Littleton, Colo. |
| Zariah Smith | WSOC | So. | 3.45 | Social Work | Aurora, Colo. |
| Paige Utterback | WSOC | Sr. | 3.55 | Biology (Health Professions) | New London, Mo. |
| Deonna Wellbrock | WSOC | R-Fr. | 3.95 | Nursing | Hays, Kan. |
Scholar-Athlete Award recipients in bold