DALLAS – Conference USA announced the 14 student-athletes receiving the Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Thursday. The 12th annual award is named in honor of Dr. Jim Castañeda who served Rice for 46 years as an educator, coach and Faculty Athletics Representative before he passed away in 2008. Every season, C-USA grants the $4,000 scholarship to distinguished graduates selected by the league’s Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the Board of Directors.
2020 Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients
Carson Pace, Softball, Charlotte
Alexa Bryant, Women’s Swimming, FIU
Sigourney Kame, Volleyball, Florida Atlantic
Ethan Reed, Football, Louisiana Tech
D’Andre Knight, Baseball, Marshall
Tanner Owens, Men’s Golf, Middle Tennessee
Logan Bruffett, Women’s Soccer, North Texas
Anna Davis, Lacrosse, Old Dominion
Adolfo Carvalho, Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country, Rice
Alex Nelms, Baseball, Southern Miss
Natalie Presedo, Women’s Soccer, UAB
Briana Arellano, Volleyball, UTEP
Jordyn Lacy, Women’s Soccer, UTSA
Emma Kowalkowski, Volleyball, WKU
Carson Pace, Softball, Charlotte
In Pace’s redshirt senior year, she led the 49ers with 74.2 innings pitched and 57 strikeouts and ranked ninth nationally with three saves. After graduating with a 3.802 grade-point average (GPA) in accounting, Pace has hopes to pursue a law degree at Elon.
Alexa Bryant, Women’s Swimming, FIU
A member of the FIU women’s swimming and diving squad that won its sixth-straight C-USA Championship in 2020, Bryant earned a silver medal at the 2019 conference meet in the 200 freestyle relay. Bryant graduated with a 3.950 GPA in dietetics and nutrition and has been accepted to the human nutrition and functional medicine graduate program at the University of Western States.
Sigourney Kame, Florida Atlantic, Volleyball
After completing her undergraduate degree in exercise science and human promotion with a 3.9 GPA, Kame is striving towards an acceptance to a Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate program. Kame made her mark on the Owls’ volleyball program, earning All-C-USA First Team honors in 2017 and 2018 and a Second Team nod in 2019. She finished her career as third in Florida Atlantic records with 1,171 kills.
Ethan Reed, Football, Louisiana Tech
The offensive lineman was named to the All-C-USA Second Team in 2019 for his performance on the field and is a four-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection for his performance in the classroom. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Reed hopes to earn his master’s degree in business administration at Louisiana Tech.
D’Andre Knight, Baseball, Marshall
Having earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019, Knight will enter his second year as a student in Marshall’s psychology graduate program in the fall of 2020. Knight ended his last season pitching for the Thundering Herd on a two-game scoreless streak, making seven appearances out of the bullpen.
Tanner Owens, Men’s Golf, Middle Tennessee
Named Middle Tennessee’s 2020 True Blue President’s Male Athlete of the Year, Owens was a team captain and one of four Blue Raiders to have a season stroke average under par this season. Owens graduated with a 3.915 GPA in health care administration and has been accepted to Middle Tennessee’s MBA program.
Logan Bruffett, Women’s Soccer, North Texas
Bruffett excelled on and off the field at North Texas, as a team captain and All-Conference honoree in 2019 and a three-time C-USA Commissioner’s Medal recipient. After graduating in three years with a 4.0 GPA in biology, Bruffett has the goal of earning her master’s degree in physician assistant studies.
Anna Davis, Lacrosse, Old Dominion
Old Dominion lacrosse captain Anna Davis started every game in her final two of four seasons as a Monarch. After earning a bachelor’s degree in health services with a minor in business analytics, Davis plans to attend Drexel to earn her MPH with a focus in epidemiology/biostatistics, including a minor in infectious disease.
Adolfo Carvalho, Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country, Rice
Carvalho will attend Caltech in the fall in pursuit of a PhD in astronomy, already having collected a pair of undergraduate degrees in mathematics and astrophysics. The Rice track and field, and cross country student-athlete most recently registered a 3.88 GPA as a space studies master’s student and earned his second All-Conference USA cross country selection in 2019.
Alex Nelms, Baseball, Southern Miss
Southern Miss pitcher Alex Nelms is a three-time letterwinner and two-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Academic Medal recipient. Following a degree in biological sciences, the SAAC representative will begin studies at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in the fall to become a physician.
Natalie Presedo, Women’s Soccer, UAB
Presedo is targeting a career in medicine and biomedical research after obtaining two bachelor’s degrees with emphasis in anthropology and molecular biology. The two-time All-Conference USA honoree was elected team captain and team MVP for the 2019 season.
Briana Arellano, Volleyball, UTEP
Arellano graduated in fall 2019 with honors and an undergraduate degree in biological sciences. The Canutillo, Texas, donned the Miner uniform for four years, totaling 105 matches. She was awarded the league’s honor roll and academic medal twice, and is now planning to pursue a career in occupational therapy.
Jordyn Lacy, Women’s Soccer, UTSA
Lacy represented UTSA women’s soccer as a C-USA All-Freshman Team selection, and C-USA Honor Roll and Academic Medal winner in three of four seasons. The biochemistry student will graduate in August with her sights set on a Physician’s Assistant program.
Emma Kowalkowski, Volleyball, WKU
Kowalkowski graduated from WKU with a degree in sport management, and was accepted into Belmont’s sport administration master’s program for the fall 2020 semester. The four-year volleyball student-athlete was part of three C-USA Championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and also interned with WKU Athletics last fall.