FULL LIST OF 2020-21 GOLDEN EAGLE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD RECIPIENTS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 23, 2021) – Football's Anthony Sweeney and Cross Country/Track & Field's Jessa Hanson were selected as the 2020-21 Golden Eagle Top Male and Female Scholar-Athletes, highlighting 227 total award recipients this academic year.
Just one year after NAU recognized 197 student-athletes – the department's highest total since the 2013-14 academic year – the athletic department saw an increase of 30 as part of the 43rd annual Golden Eagle Awards presented by Ginny L. Clements.
The Golden Eagle Awards was first presented in the spring of 1979. All Lumberjacks holding a 3.00 cumulative grade point average or better are eligible for the award, presented to student-athletes who have made significant contributions in athletics as well as in the classroom.
Sweeney recently wrapped up his redshirt junior campaign, starting all five games during NAU's abbreviated spring football season. He finished fifth on the team with 24 tackles, while also recording one interception, two pass breakups and one quarterback hurry. The four-time Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award recipient led the Lumberjacks with 83 tackles during the 2019 season and totaled five pass breakups.
Sweeney is a two-time Big Sky All-Academic selection and graduated last spring with his bachelor's degree in sociology with a 3.67 GPA. The American Canyon, Calif. native is currently pursuing his master's degree in applied sociology and holds a 4.00 grade point average.
Hanson was a major contributor to NAU women's cross country's 11th place finish at the NCAA Championships last month, recording a 79th place finish with a time of 21:22.6. Her performance at the national championship meet followed a 13th place finish at the Big Sky Championships with a 5K PR time of 17:09.9.
Last weekend, Hanson set a new PR on the track at the Virginia Challenge, running a time of 16:06.73 in the 5000m, which currently ranks 22nd in the NCAA West Region. A two-time Big Sky All-Academic honoree, the distance runner from Spicer, Minn. Holds a perfect 4.00 undergraduate GPA as a double major in biology and Spanish and a double minor in chemistry and Latin American studies.
Sweeney was one of 60 NAU football players to receive the Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete award, while Hanson led 38 student-athletes from the women's cross country and track & field program. The two programs posted the highest totals in the department.
The NAU swimming & diving team was perfect with all 27 of their student-athletes receiving the award. Women's basketball (12-of-13) and golf (6-of-7) were also nearly perfect, while all six of women's tennis' primary players in the lineup were honorees.
A full list of the 2020-21 Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete award recipients is available
here.
Gallery: (4-23-2021) 2020-21 Golden Eagle Awards
