The Great American Conference named Harding University’s record-setting basketball star Sage Hawley as its 2024-2025 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, according to a news release.
Hawley became the fourth Lady Bison to receive the honor, tying with East Central University for the most honorees in league history.
Hawley joins fellow former Bisons basketball players Kristen Celsor and Arielle Saunders, who won in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, respectively.
Harding’s track and field All-American Anna Kay Clark claimed the award last year.
Hawley won her second College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honor in 2025. She earned a 3.79 GPA in information systems as a graduate student.
Earning GAC Tournament MVP honors, Hawley led the Lady Bisons to a 69-52 win against Southeastern Oklahoma. The net cutting victory was Harding’s first GAC Championship since 2017.
Hawley became a two-time All-American after finishing her career as just the third player in NCAA Division II history with at least 2,300 points and 1,300 rebounds.
2024-2025 GAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year nominees
Softball
Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Ashley Low (volleyball, softball and track and field), University of Arkansas-Monticello’s Kyann Woods and East Central’s Taylor Spence.
Soccer
Ouachita Baptist’s Abbey Moore and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Anna Bager.
Basketball
Henderson State University’s Bobbi Bazzle, SAU’s Marlee Bright and Southern Nazarene’s Hannah Giddey.
Cross Country, Track and Field
Arkansas Tech’s Mackenzie Epperson, Oklahoma Baptist’s Sophia Strange and Southeastern Oklahoma’s Emma Berry.
Male Scholar Athlete of the Year
The Great American Conference named Southern Nazarene track and field athlete Colter Bufford as its 2024-2025 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, a news release said.
Bufford became the second Crimson Storm track and athlete to win the honor. He captured Southern Nazarene’s first GAC title in the javelin. While at the GAC Championships, he broke the meet record and the school record with a mark of 67.35 meters.
Bufford ranked No. 14 in the nation in the event while qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Bufford has a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry, serves as president of Tri Beta and is the treasurer for Alpha Epsilon Delta.
Oklahoma State Senator Kristen Thompson and Oklahoma Representative Nicole Miller awarded Bufford citations for research over dissolved organic matter. Bufford recently conducted medical research for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
2024-2025 GAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year
Football
UAM’s Ryan Williams, Arkansas Tech’s Peyton Henderson, East Central’s Seth Spady, Harding’s Jake Dugger, Southwestern State’s Isaac Foster’s, Southeastern State’s Damien Brown and SAU’s Matthew Whitten.
Baseball
Henderson State’s Cayden Davis and Northwestern State’s Will Kates.
Tennis
OBU’s Ramon Strassmann.
Cross Country, Track and Field
Oklahoma Baptist’s Carson Kardokus.
Sportsmanship awards
The GAC announced its sportsmanship awards as chosen by the league’s head coaches based on a point system on Tuesday.
The GAC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, in 2012, initiated a sportsmanship award to be presented for all team sports, the release said. The winning school will receive a banner similar to the one presented to GAC tournament championship winners when the sportsmanship award winners are announced.
GAC Commissioner Will Prewitt said the goal of programs is to promote good sportsmanship among its teams, fans and all involved with the events.
“These awards emphasize the NCAA Division II focus on sportsmanship and game environment. We could not be prouder of what these programs have put forth on the field and in ways that aren’t necessarily reflected in the outcome,” Prewitt said in the release.
ArkansasTech
Arkansas Tech won in women’s golf and for the first time in school history in men’s golf, becoming only the second school to win both awards in the same season in GAC history.
The Golden Suns’ cross country team also captured their first sportsmanship award.
OBU
For the Tigers, both football and softball earned back-to-back sportsmanship awards, and both sports won their fourth sportsmanship awards in school history.
The Tigers collected their first for women’s track and field.
Arkansas Tech and OBU each claimed three sportsmanship awards.
Harding
The Bisons garnered the award for both men’s and women’s soccer and became the first GAC school to win for both sports in the same season.
The honor represents the 11-in-13 seasons for Harding’s women’s team and the first-ever for the Bisons men’s team.
Northwestern State
The Rangers join Arkansas Tech, OBU and Harding as the only GAC schools to secure multiple sportsmanship awards for the year.
The Rangers won their second-straight men’s track and field sportsmanship awards and the first-ever sportsmanship award for women’s basketball in Northwestern State history.
Southwestern State
Southwestern State volleyball received recognition for the fifth-straight year, and sixth time overall, for a sportsmanship award.
Southeastern State earned its fifth sportsmanship award for men’s basketball in school history.
Henderson State
Henderson State claimed a sportsmanship award for women’s tennis for the fourth time.
Southern Nazarene
Southern Nazarene baseball secured its second sportsmanship award.
East Central
East Central men’s cross country won the program’s first sportsmanship award.
Southern Nazarene track and field athlete Colter Bufford, center, throws a javelin. (Submitted photo)