IRVINE, Calif. – For the first time in school history, four different Concordia University Irvine Eagles were voted the PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year for their individual sport.

All four student-athletes excelled as graduate students at CUI and played a key role in their team's success in the conference while compiling high academic marks.

CUI tied Azusa Pacific with the most honorees.  The nominations and votes are done every summer by all PacWest sports information directors.

Seven Up For CUI Softball!

In arguably one of the most amazing achievements of the program's extensive history, this marks the seventh straight summer that the PacWest Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year featured a Concordia Eagle.  This year's honor went to outfielder Lauren Lopez, who boasted a 3.96 grade point average in the MBA program and also ranks Top 10 in career steals.  The Archbishop Mitty High School alum from the San Jose, Calif. area was a member of all three CUI teams that emerged as PacWest Conference champions. She also was the starting centerfielder for the 2021 squad that navigated an unorthodox schedule and emerged as PacWest SoCal Pod champions.

Lopez joins fellow CUI softball alumni McKinsey Thorpe (2021), Sarah Kretschmar (2019 and 2020) and three-time winner Ryann Ferguson (2016-18) as PacWest Softball Scholar-Athletes from Concordia.

Angel Flies Away With Special Honor

Angel Aguirre was tabbed as the PacWest Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Whittier, Calif. native from California High School worked his way to a 3.95 GPA while working towards his master's in coaching and athletic administration (MCAA program).

The fastest runner for CUI at the conference meet, Aguirre placed 13th overall at the PacWest Conference Championships.  That feat earned him Second Team All-PacWest honors.  He would go on to help the Eagles post their best finish at the West Regional in the NCAA DII era.

No Joshin' Around

Joshua Caston put a bow on his superb season with the Eagles as the PacWest Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  The Virginia Beach native joined CUI from Point Loma as a graduate student and earned his MBA while posting a 3.87 GPA.  He was also the steadiest player all season long, consistently among the top scorers on the squad as evidence by his game averages of 14.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest. 

Caston was named Third Team All-PacWest and led CUI in both steals and minutes played. He started all 25 games he appeared in and served as an extension of the coaching staff as a leader on and off the court.

Evan Almighty

Concordia pitcher Evan Larsen earned a 3.91 GPA while studying organizational leadership and was voted the first-ever Eagle to be named PacWest Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Larsen was the ace of CUI's staff & went 4-4 with a 3.97 ERA & team-high 85 strikeouts in 68 innings. 

A First Team All-PacWest pitcher & Second Team D2CCA All-Region selection, he struck out at least eight batters in 7 starts and led all CUI starters with a 11.25 K/9 ratio. He was also Honorable Mention NCBWA All-Region. The Eagles rose as high as No. 20 in the NCBWA DII poll - which is also their highest ranking in a national poll in the program's DII era.

Congrats to this Fantastic Four!  Here is the Full List of Honorees:
 

2021-22 PACWEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Sport	Name	School	GPA	Major
Baseball	Evan Larsen	Concordia	3.91	Organizational Leadership
Men's Basketball	Joshua Caston	Concordia	3.87	Business Administration
Women's Basketball	Riley Friauf	Dominican	3.88	MBA
Men's Cross Country	Angel Aguirre	Concordia	3.95	Coaching & Athletics
Women's Cross Country	Natalia Novak	Academy of Art	3.71	Communications & Media
Men's Golf	Keita Okada	Hawai`i Pacific	3.11	Business Administration
Women's Golf	Claire Shubin	Dominican	3.64	Education Studies
Men's Soccer	Gregoire Diep	Azusa Pacific	3.93	Business Management
Women's Soccer	Daelenn Tokunaga	Hawai`i Hilo	3.83	Administration of Justice
Softball	Lauren Lopez	Concordia	3.96	Business Administration
Men's Tennis	Sam Sippel	Azusa Pacific	3.97	Business Economics
Women's Tennis	Yun "Nicole" Shiau	Academy of Art	3.98	Communication & Media
Men's T&F	Weston Ellis	Azusa Pacific	3.83	Applied Exercise Science
Women's T&F	Chin Agina *	Azusa Pacific	4.00	Kinesiology
Volleyball	Bria Beale	Hawai`i Hilo	4.00	Psychology