Kansas City, MO – The University of the Cumberlands continues to find success both in competition and in the classroom during the spring season. With several teams earning conference titles and national recognition, the Patriots have also showcased their academic commitment as 94 spring sport student-athletes were named 2026 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, as announced by the NAIA national office.

Four spring sports teams had double-digit honorees with Men's Track & Field leading the way with a program record 19 honorees. Women's Track & Field tallied 15 honorees, while Women's Lacrosse had a program record 12 student-athletes garner this disctintion.  Baseball finished with ten honorees, while Men's Tennis notched eight honorees. Women's Tennis, and Men's Lacrosse had seven student-athletes apiece while Women's Golf,  Softball, and Men's Golf had at least five honorees each.
 
In total, 221 Patriot student-athletes have earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolade during the 2025-26 season.  It marks the second consecutive year that Cumberlands has tallied over 200 honorees and its one off the school record set last season.
 
Criteria for earned this distinction include reaching at least sophomore status and maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher.
 
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots, Instagram - @UCPatriots, YouTube – CumberlandsPatriots, Snapchat – UC_Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.

  

Cumberlands' 2026 Spring Sports NAIA Scholar-Athletes:
Baseball (10):	Women's Lacrosse (12):
Canaan Browning, English Education	Ashlee Baker, Communication Arts
Wesley Culley, Exercise Sport Science	Elizabeth Crittenden, Criminal Justice
Jay Flynn, Accounting	Koral Hadac, MBA
Luke Genier, Exercise Sport Science	Mikayla Kimsey, Human Services
Elijah Nickell, Exercise Sport Science	Reese Kincaid, Elementary Education
Caden Petrey, Health & PE Education	Sarah Linam, Communication Arts & Information Technology Sciences
Chris Seay, Exercise Sport Science / Coaching	Tess Lisy, Criminal Justice
Clay Shelton, Business Administration / Exercise and Sport Science	Anna Lobbezoo, Criminal Justice
Cayden Smithers, Exercise Sport Science	Savannah Reed, Elementary Education
Stuart Tharle, Exercise Sport Science	Emma Rittman, Elementary Education
	Madison Rupp, Psychology
Men's Lacrosse (7):	Jenna Veech, Fitness & Sport Management / Coaching
Caden Abbott, Business Administration
JD Cook, Christian Studies / Business Administration	Men's Tennis (8):
Nathan Foskey, Cyber Security / Criminal Justice	Karl Etzel, Business Administration
Aiden Hamilton, Fitness & Sport Management	Manuel Fernandez Guede, Business Administration / Mathematics
Austin Hering, Business Administration	Darius Kuster, Business Administration / Exercise Sport Science
Jack Sidwell, Business Administration	Sampras Rakotondrainibe, Business Administration
Dennis Smith, Business Administration	Apivich Rojpiboonphan, Business Administration
	Gabriele Solda, Fitness & Sport Management
Women's Golf (6):	Kazuma Tani, Fitness & Sport Management
Ginevra Capo, Business Administration	Thibaud Vivier, Fitness & Sport Management
Ainslee Cruce, Business Administration
Malainey Dobbs, Business Administration	Women's Tennis (7):
Jenna Pike, Business Administration	Eva Cancarevic, Fitness & Sport Management / Psychology
Breanna Trautman, Biology	Jirachavala Puckaporn, Accounting
McKenzie Trautman, Business Administration	YuFang Liu, Business Administration
	Skye Maclean, Fitness & Sport Management
Men's Golf (5):	Marina Nagai, Business Administration
Theo Andersson, Business Administration	Lucy Stojic, Fitness & Sport Management
Lorenzo Fiato, Information Technology Sciences	Carlota Verdu, Business Administration / Psychology
Eli Fischer, Finance
Pablo Lopez Martin, Math	Softball (5):
Pedro Morgado, Business Administration / Information Technology Sciences	Jessica Cord, Exercise Sport Science
	Cassidy Gentry, Biology
Men's Track & Field (19):	Abby Guinn, Biology
Jordan Afolayan, Business Administration	Ryann Livingston, Business Administration
Victor Carpeggiani, Exercise Sport Science	Aniyah White, Exercise Sport Science / Psychology
Byron Collier, Business Administration
Jon Eades, Biology	Women's Track & Field (15):
Ryan Ehrler, Physics	Lilian Bittencourt, Elementary & Middle School Education
Noah Kincade, Business Administration	Allie Bryson, English Education
Noah Loeser, Exercise Sport Science	Anslee Crosby, Exercise Sport Science
Jackson Lowe, Social Studies Education / Business Administration	Clayra Darnell, Human Services
Luca Madeo, Exercise Sport Science	Delaney Deaton, Exercise Sport Science
Austin Meacham, Cyber Security	Hannah Durrant, Exercise Sport Science
Dillan Melchiore, Accounting / Fitness and Sport Managment	Heather Durrant, Biology
Nate Powers, General Studies / Business Administration	Elisa Helferich, Health & PE Education
Grayson Rahbany, Psychology	Megan Kitchens, Elementary Education
Mason Smith, Exercise Sport Science	Taylor Lunsford, Exercise Sport Science / Public Health
Brian Nwachukwu, Information Technology Sciences	Jasmin Ponce, Exercise Sport Science
Bartosz Trojniar, Computer Science	Lucy Sullivan, English
Hauke Trost, Physics	Ashley Terry, Elementary Education
Eddie Van Wyk, Business Administration / Exercise Sport Science	Chloe West, Nursing
Lebron Williams,	Jaci Woods, Fitness & Sports Management
Max Young, Business Administration