Western Kentucky senior Catie Craig was tied for third after two rounds heading into Wednesday's final round of the Conference USA Championships in St. Augustine, Florida. (WKU ATHLETICS)

Eight Western Kentucky student-athletes were named Conference USA Scholar-Athletes of the Year on Thursday, the most in school history and the most in CUSA from a single school since 2021-22.

Callie Bauer of volleyball, Sofia Blanco of women’s tennis, Catie Craig of women’s golf, Maddie Davis of women’s soccer, Nayla Martin of women’s cross country, Leeroy Odiahi of men’s basketball, Rowen Wilkinson of men’s cross country and Stephen Warren of men’s golf all earned the honor for their respective sport.

The awards are presented to the top student-athlete in each sport based on academic achievement, athletic achievement, and service.

Bauer, with a 3.88 GPA in business administration, continued her dominance both on and off the court in 2024, earning CUSA Setter of the Year for the first time in her career and her second consecutive CUSA Scholar-Athlete award. The Michigan native helped WKU to the fourth-best hitting percentage in the country (.305) while also leading both the conference and the Hilltoppers in assists with 1,387. Those 1,387 assists were also good enough to rank her third in the country while also averaging 11.21 assists per set. She was named CUSA Setter of the Week on four different occasions and earned AVCA All-Region recognition. Over the season, she collected nine double-doubles and one triple-double against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 9. In addition, she posted a season-high 55 assists and collected a total of 51 blocks on the year. Off the court, Bauer was named to the CUSA’ Commissioner’s Honor Roll and earned the CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medal for the third year straight.

Blanco wrapped up her WKU career as the winningest player in program history, compiling 108 combined singles and doubles wins during her four-year career and finishing the year with a 3.92 GPA in business data analytics. She is the only player in program history to reach the 100-win mark. She finished her career second in program history in career singles wins with 56 and second in program history in career doubles wins with 52. During her WKU career, she was named All-CUSA twice and received four CUSA weekly awards.

She helped lead the program to its winningest four-year stretch, with the Lady Toppers claiming 62 wins during her career. As a senior, she posted a 16-7 record in singles, playing primarily from the No. 2 position – the 16 wins are fifth-most in a single season in program history – and added 14 wins in doubles. Blanco has been equally impressive off the court. She was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team and the CUSA All-Academic Team three times, and she has been named an ITA Scholar-Athlete twice.

With the announcement, Craig, a native of Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia, earns her second consecutive CUSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. She finished her four-year career with a 73.58 stroke average, a new school record, and a perfect 4.0 GPA in agriculture. She totaled 8,610 strokes in 117 rounds, besting Mary Joiner’s 73.92 record. She also finished her senior season with a 72.86 stroke average, the fourth-best in program history. She set the school record (70.2) in 2023-24. In all, Craig racked up five career wins in 40 events, with 16 total Top 5s, 21 Top 10s and 27 Top 25s. The 2023 Conference USA individual champion made three NCAA Regional appearances during her illustrious career and is now competing professionally on the Epson Tour.

In 2024, Davis’ first Scholar-Athlete award comes after she was named the CUSA Goalkeeper of the Year, becoming the first WKU player to earn the honor. Adding to her list of postseason accolades, she was also named All-CUSA First Team, United Soccer Coaches All-Region Third Team, and United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Region Team in addition to holding a 4.0 GPA in construction management. David was also named CUSA Goalkeeper of the Week twice and tied for the best Goals Against Average and most shutouts during conference play, allowing just .667 goals per game and collecting a total of five clean sheets. Continuing her dominance between the posts, she had the best save percentage of any CUSA goalkeeper in league play at .860. Her six total shutouts was good enough for second CUSA and also ranked her Top 100 nationally.

Martin’s Scholar-Athlete award comes after a season that saw her compete in two meets during the outdoor season and three meets during the indoor season, including CUSA Championships. During the indoor season, she set a personal best of 4 minutes, 57 seconds in the mile at the Bellarmine Classic, earning second. At the Bellarmine Open, Martin won the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:09.70 and placed third in the mile at 5:01.68. Across her three meets in the outdoor season, she set two PRs at CUSA Championships in the 800 meters (2:13.88) and in the finals of the 1,500 meters (4:32.03), taking 10th. She also helped the Hilltoppers to an eighth-place finish in the 4×400 relay, completing the event with a 3:54.62. Martin also finished the year with a 3.95 GPA in psychological science.

Odiahi finished last season at WKU with six starts across 31 games played. In the classroom, he held a 3.15 GPA in interdisciplinary studies. He finished the year averaging 14.6 minutes per contest and led the team in blocks with 29 on the year, good enough for 10th most in CUSA. In addition, Odiahi posted a team-high .690% (28-of-46) shooting percentage from the field. At the glass, he averaged 2.7 rebounds and collected 1.9 points per game while also recording seven steals and six assists on the year. Rounding out his 2024-25 performance, he posted a season-high nine points on 4-of-5 (.800%) shooting against Seattle on Dec. 17 and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds at LA Tech on Jan. 23.

Warren, a native of Owensboro, held a 3.90 GPA in biology/chemistry. He competed in 10 of 11 events for the Hilltoppers during the 2024-25 season and tallied a 73.31 stroke average. Warren had three top 10s and five top 25s during his senior season. For his career, he has played in 73 rounds with a 74.10 stroke average. He has two top 5s, five top 10s and 10 top 25s.

Wilkinson, a two-year member of both the cross country and track and field team, posted a 3.92 GPA during the 2024-2025 year as a triple major in Chinese, Spanish, and political science.