KANSAS — The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is proud to announce that over 690 student-athletes competing in athletics in the conference in the Spring 2026 season earned the Scholar-Athlete distinction. This honor recognizes excellence in the classroom by KCAC member student-athletes who are sophomores or above in academic standing at the beginning of the semester in which they compete, and carry a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA at the beginning of the semester in which they compete.
Students must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at the KCAC institution to be eligible.
Out of the Spring 2026 sports, baseball led the way with 187 honorees, followed by softball with 139 scholar-athletes. Women's outdoor track and field (93 honorees) and men's outdoor track & field (70) were next, followed by women's and men's tennis (55 and 53 honorees, respectively). Rounding out the list of spring sports were women's flag football (41 scholar-athletes), men's golf (33), and women's golf (21).
Kansas Wesleyan University led the way with 105 honorees in the Spring 2026 season. Below is the number of honorees for each of the KCAC's fourteen full member institutions:
- Kansas Wesleyan University: 105
- University of Saint Mary: 72
- Friends University: 71
- Evangel University: 64
- Ottawa University: 50
- York University: 45
- Bethany College: 42
- Oklahoma Wesleyan University: 37
- Bethel College: 36
- Southwestern College: 35
- Tabor College: 32
- McPherson College: 30
- Avila University: 29
- Sterling College: 27
Several per-sport members in women's flag football also had athletes receive KCAC Scholar-Athlete honors. The following per-sport members had at least one KCAC Scholar-Athlete honoree in the spring:
- Midland University: 5
- Baker University: 4
- Cottey College: 3
- William Woods University: 2
- Graceland University: 2
- Hesston College: 1
To view the full list of KCAC Scholar-Athletes, broken down by both sport and institution, click
here.
In addition to over 690 student-athletes earning this honor at the conference level, 466 student-athletes from the KCAC competing in spring sports earned the NAIA Scholar-Athlete distinction. 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.
Kansas Wesleyan led all KCAC institutions with 76 NAIA Scholar-Athletes
. The KCAC ranked sixth among all 20 NAIA conferences in total honorees.
For more about the NAIA Scholar-Athlete honor, including the full list of honorees, click
here.
ABOUT THE KANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and sponsors 28 varsity sports. Founded in 1890, the KCAC is the second oldest intercollegiate athletic conference in the country. As the conference home to 14 member institutions, the KCAC emphasizes commitment, cooperation, high achievement, and working towards a common goal in the act of competition. To keep up with the latest conference news, follow the KCAC on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram using the handle @kcacsports.
—KCAC—