GNAC Release
GNAC FAR Scholar-Athlete Award Recipients (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced their list of recipients for the 2023 GNAC Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Barnes & Noble College. 

A record 359 GNAC student-athletes received the 2022-23 GNAC FAR Scholar-Athlete Award, with 124 male student-athletes being named and 235 female student-athletes. 359 recipients surpasses the previous record of 323 set during the 2020-21 academic year and is the third consecutive year that over 300 student-athletes have been honored. The Alaska Nanooks had 24 student-athletes named to the list with 11 male student-athletes and 13 female student-athletes. 

The Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes all student-athletes listed on any squad at a GNAC institution, regardless of whether the sport is a GNAC championship sport, that have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or greater. Conference affiliate members could nominate only student-athletes from the sport in which they compete in the GNAC.

Three Nanooks on the men's side became repeat recipients as Nolan Earnest (men's cross country) earned his third honor and Gavin Barnick (mixed rifle) and Harrison Israels (men's ice hockey) earned their second trips to the GNAC FAR Scholar-Athlete list. Eight other student-athletes were named to the list for the first time; Lars Tobias Bernhoft-Osa (mixed rifle), Braden Birnie (men's ice hockey), Josh Davis (men's basketball), Xavier Jean-Louis (men's ice hockey), Markuss Komuls (men's ice hockey), Lassi Lehti (men's ice hockey), Philipp Moosmayer (men's Nordic ski) and Jonny Sorenson (men's ice hockey). Hockey's Lehti (Business Administration) and Sorenson (Business Administration) boasted the two 4.00 GPA's for the Nanooks' male student-athletes.

On the women's side, the Nanooks had seven repeat recipients. Lainey Lioi (women's swimming), Mesa Moran (women's swimming), Destiny Reimers (women's basketball), Ainsley Smith (women's volleyball) and Rilee White (women's volleyball) all received the GNAC FAR Scholar-Athlete award for the third time. Sará Karasová (mixed rifle) and Delainey Zock (women's cross country) both earned their second GNAC FAR honor. Six other Nanooks earned their first honor as Naomi Bailey (women's cross country), Kinley Erickson (women's volleyball), Elena Guc (women's volleyball), Kayla Johnson (women's basketball), Emma McKenney (women's basketball) and Jayda Van Dyke (women's basketball) rounded out the list. 

A faculty athletic representative (FAR) is a member of the faculty at an 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."

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