Kansas Wesleyan University announces that a total of 77 student-athletes have been named as NAIA Scholar-Athletes for the Spring 2026 sports seasons.
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The spring sports seasons encompass the sports of Baseball, Softball, Women's and Men's Golf, Women's and Men's Tennis, Women's and Men's Track, Men's Volleyball, Women's Beach Volleyball, and Women's and Men's Lacrosse.
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KWU fields teams in nine of the listed sports. Flag Football did not announce Scholar-Athletes at the NAIA level this season. 2027 will be the first season for the sport to have the honor. KWU would have had seven additional student-athletes added to the list in Flag Football.
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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.Â
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KWU's total of 77 student-athletes earning the honor which led the KCAC. Friends was second with 52, Evangel was third with 51, Saint Mary was fourth with 47 and Ottawa was fifth with 39.
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The Coyote baseball team led the way with 21 student-athletes earning the honor. Softball and women's track were next with 13, men's track was the fourth highest total with 11. KWU led the conference in individual sport honorees in six sports (baseball, softball, men's golf, men's tennis, women's track and men's track).
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Nationally, there were a total of 6895 student-athletes that earned the honor. 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), men's volleyball (237), and men's lacrosse (226) follow closely behind in the 200-500 range, while women's beach volleyball (148) and women's lacrosse (138) round out the list with a smaller but still notable total.Â
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| School |
BSB |
SB |
WGO |
MGO |
WTEN |
MTEN |
WTRK |
MTRK |
MVB * |
BEACH * |
MLAX * |
WLAX * |
Total |
| Kansas Wesleyan |
21 |
13 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
13 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
77 |
| Friends |
11 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
52 |
| Evangel |
12 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
9 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
| Saint Mary |
8 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
47 |
| Ottawa |
9 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
39 |
| York |
17 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
| McPherson |
9 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
| Bethel |
0 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan |
3 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
| Tabor |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
| Avila |
9 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
| Southwestern |
5 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
| Sterling |
7 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
| Bethany |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| KCAC Totals |
115 |
92 |
17 |
22 |
35 |
30 |
84 |
48 |
4 |
13 |
1 |
6 |
467 |
| NAIA Sport Totals |
1333 |
1199 |
379 |
427 |
289 |
271 |
1219 |
1029 |
237 |
148 |
226 |
138 |
6895 |
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| ** Flag Football did not recognize NAIA Scholar-Athletes in 2026. KWU had seven student-athletes that would have been Scholar-Athletes |
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| * Men's Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, Men's Lacrosse and Women's Lacrosse are not KCAC Championship sports, but KCAC teams sponsor the sports and are recognized |
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