PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Stanford's Belle Battistoni was named the Pac-12 Women's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year and California's Tommy Barrell the Pac-12 Men's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2024 season, the conference office announced Sunday.  This is the 4th straight year that Stanford has claimed the women's award and the first time California has won either since 2021.  The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

Battistoni, from Issaquah, Wash., is a Management, Science and Engineering major who holds a 4.06 undergraduate grade-point average.  A two-time CRCA National Scholar Athlete (2022, 2023) and three-time Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll member, the senior helped lead the Cardinal to back-to-back Pac-12 team championships (2022,2023) and Stanford's Second Varsity Eight at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships.  After finishing runner-up in 2021 & 2022, that same boat finished first at the NCAA Championships last year on Stanford's way to their first national title since 2009.  A gold medalist at the 2022 U23 World Rowing Championships, Battistoni has excelled off the water as well in Sustainability Research and Strategy at BDA.  There she created a database of supplier-sustainable products, certifications and initiatives and conducted supply chain research on over 800 suppliers.  This is the fourth straight year a Stanford rower has claimed this award, the first time a school has earned Pac-12 Women's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year in four straight years since it was created for the 2007-08 academic year and the eighth time a Cardinal has been named Pac-12 Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Barrell, an Auckland, New Zealand native, boasts a 3.96 grade-point average with a major in Business, graduating from the Haas Business School this spring.  His GPA has earned him Cal's Neufeld Award for the graduating senior with the highest grade-point average for the entire athletic department.  A two-time IRCA Scholar Athlete and two-time Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll member, Barrell was voted by his teammates to earn the team's Dean Witter Award for leading the team culture and setting the example of loyalty, proficiency and spirit.  The senior helped lead California to both the Pac-12 Championship and National Championship in 2023.  This is the first Cal rower to win this award since George Finlayson in 2021 and their fourth winner in the last six years.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility), on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

ALSO NOMINATED (MEN): Max Heid, WASH; Travis Senf, STAN; Tristin Vanderlind, OSU

ALSO NOMINATED (WOMEN): Eden Cooper-Squires, USC; Antonia Galland, CAL; Angharad Broughton, WASH; Maeve Donnelly, OSU; Mia Glinn, UCLA; Ainsley Tiernan, WSU

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S ROWING SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR