SEWARD, Neb. – A recent winner of the GPAC championships and national tournament qualifier, senior Amy Ahlers has been named a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete for the second year in a row. Joining Ahlers on the Scholar-Athlete list was junior Lauren Sperry, a first time honoree. A native of Albion, Neb., Ahlers earned her degrees in Elementary and Special Education. Sperry, who hails from Oneida, Ill., is majoring in Director of Christian Education and Elementary Education.
Additionally, Ahlers is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District choice and is again up for Academic All-America honors. Ahlers finished her career last week at the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status. A total of 174 women’s golf student-athletes across the nation were named 2017 Scholar-Athletes by the NAIA.
Concordia University ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 1,277 and counting (27 for the fall athletics season). The 2015-16 season produced a GPAC best 92 Bulldog scholar-athletes and a national best 20 NAIA Scholar-Teams. The 2014-15 season culminated with GPAC-leading totals of 94 Bulldog scholar-athletes and 17 NAIA Scholar-Teams. During the 2013-14 academic year, Concordia garnered 101 Scholar-Athlete honorees (most in the NAIA) and 17 NAIA Scholar-Teams (tied for fourth nationally).
2017 Women’s Golf Scholar-Athletes
Amy Ahlers, Sr. | Albion, Neb. | Elementary/Special Education
Lauren Sperry, Jr. | Oneida, Ill. | DCE/Elementary Education