Eight `Runners Earn Academic All-District Honors

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The 2025 Academic All-District® teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. Cal State Bakersfield excitedly announces eight Roadrunner scholar-athletes who earned the distinction on Tuesday as part of the At-Large program.

The CSC At-Large program seeks to honor student-athletes from a wide range of sports while holding to one of the highest standards of competitive and academic success across all national recognitions. Institutions are able to nominate a maximum of six men and six women total from the list of sports. Of the sports on the At-Large list, Cal State Bakersfield sponsors wrestling, beach volleyball, and women’s golf.

Men

Santino Sanchez and Chris Neal have earned Academic All-District honors, marking the third-straight year at least one CSUB wrestler has earned the nod. Sanchez, who hails from Whittier, Calif., is a back-to-back honoree and continues his role as Bakersfield’s primary starter at 133 pounds. He has maintained a 3.60 cumulative GPA as a business administration major.

Neal was one of CSUB’s most diverse tools this season, wrestling across three different weight classes as the team needed. The selfless student-athlete excels in the classroom as well, boasting a 3.72 GPA in his business finance studies.

Women

The `Runner women are represented by a pair of golfers and four CSUB beach volleyball student-athletes.

Junior golfer Sarah Mutai picked up her second Academic All-District nod after earning the honor in 2024. Mutai has been one of Bakersfield’s top performers on the golf course each of her three seasons and is the program’s all-time leading in career scoring. Mutai owns a 3.78 cumulative GPA as a kinesiology major.

Joining Mutai from the golf ranks is senior Nicole Whipple. The team captain, Whipple graduated from CSUB this spring with a degree in English while maintaining a 3.91 GPA.

 

From the `Runner beach volleyball team, Ella Erteltova returns as a repeat honoree while her partner, Vivi Kaelin, earned a nod as well. The duo who have paired exclusively together for the past two seasons own Bakersfield’s career record for most victories and they have earned All-Big West honors in back-to-back years. Erteltova just walked across the stage at Commencement, earning her degree in kinesiology. Kaelin is a sophomore working on a business administrator major and has a 3.58 cumulative GPA.

Also representing CSUB Beach Volleyball on the Academic All-District list from beach volleyball are Ella Ensign and Bailey Combs. Another sophomore, Ensign has a 3.65 GPA as a kinesiology major and ranks third in career wins right behind her teammates. Combs was a graduate transfer to CSUB this year, who has a 3.87 GPA in her studies at CSUB. She hopes to become a doctor or physician’s assist in the future.

Academic All-District and All-America

Nominated student-athletes must meet minimum athletic requirements, varying depending on the sport. Academically, candidates must maintain at least a 3.50 GPA, one of the highest benchmarks for national recognitions.

Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information about CSC Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com.