EUGENE, Ore.  – It is no secret that Bushnell University has become a destination small school for "Tri-Athletes", those student-athletes that want to receive a top-notch education, serve the Lord, and compete with all aspects receiving equal footing and equal emphasis in the athletic department. The academic piece of the puzzle was impressive once again during the 2022-2023 year.
 
Cascade Collegiate Conference President's Academic Excellence
Announced just this week, Bushnell continued a long eight-year tradition by being recognized with the Cascade Collegiate Conference President's Academic Excellence designation, as the only school in the CCC to achieve the award in every year it has been given. With a collective GPA of 3.34, 16 of Bushnell's 17 teams finished out the year with GPA's of at least a 3.0. Among those are four teams (women's cross country, women's outdoor track & field, beach volleyball, and indoor volleyball) to post a GPA of at least 3.5.
 
Bushnell's President's Scholastic Award
The awards received by Bushnell student-athletes were numerous, and none were bigger that having two graduating seniors recognized as the winners of the President's Scholastic Award. Given each year to the graduating senior who attained the highest cumulative GPA, with the most credits completed at Bushnell, there was a tie between women's basketball player Aspen Slifka, and cross country and track performer Rebecca Kuskie. They became the seventh and eighth former athletes to receive the honor, with seven coming over the last eight years.
 
At commencement, a total of 16 Beacons graduated with honors, including eight earning Magna Cum Laude honors with a 3.90 to 4.00 GPA. They were men's basketball manager Jamison Hanson, volleyball players Payton Jones, Halle Neumann, and Peyton Ritchie, women's cross country and track athletes Kuskie and Jenae Usselman, Esports competitor Andrew Lindley, and Slifka from women's basketball.
 
Academic All-Cascade Collegiate Conference
In order to earn Academic All-CCC honors, students must be at least a sophomore and in their second year at Bushnell, with a 3.2 GPA or higher. Thanks in no small part to the addition of a baseball team last year with newly eligible players this season, the Beacons broke the century mark with exactly 100 Academic All-CCC honorees for the first time. Over 68% of eligible student-athletes met the mark for the Beacons this year.
 
NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athletes
The program works similarly to the conference level, with eligibility for sophomores and higher, only with a 3.5 minimum GPA. For the Beacons, a record 77 athletes were selected, including an astounding 13 volleyball players.
 
CSC Academic All-America Program
A newly revamped Academic All-America program for College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) expanded the possibilities for student-athletes to be recognized and 36 Bushnell student-athletes were honored as All-District recipients. From the All-District teams, the ever elusive and exclusive Academic All-America teams are chosen. For the first time since 2020, Bushnell was home to an All-America with men's golf sophomore Ben Lovrod being selected to the second team and Kuskie garnering First-Team honors. 

Top-Ten Stories of 2022-2023

#10 - Guillermo Torres-Sanchez Honored by Student Body
#9 - Corwin, Meadors Break Coaching Win Records
#8 - Muramoto, Hoffman Named NAIA National Players of the Week
#7 - Second-Year Programs Make Huge Strides
#6 - Record-Setting Year for Cross Country and Track
#5 - Stevie Schlabach Breaks NAIA-Era Scoring Record
#4 - Stubbs Wins CCC Championship
#3 - Beacons Honored for Academics
#2 - Beacons Shine Through Service and Missions
#1 - Sam Silver Wins NAIA Leroy Walker Award