DALLAS – Conference USA announced its Fall Spirit of Service Award winners Friday. The award honors student-athletes with significant community service endeavors, good academic standing and participation in their sport. The Spirit of Service award is presented three times throughout the season, with Friday’s honorees representing women’s cross country, football, women’s soccer and volleyball. 
 
2025 Fall Spirit of Service Award Recipients
Jake Thaw, Delaware Football, Gr.
Shamir Sterlin, FIU Football, Jr.
Reina Herndon, Jax State Women’s Soccer, So.
Joshua Huiet, Kennesaw State Football, Sr.
Clay Shepler, Liberty Football, Sr.
Mary Helen Burford, LA Tech Women’s Soccer, So.
Nicholas Vittiato, MTSU Football, R-Sr.
Elana Bartak, Missouri State Women’s Soccer, Jr.
Amanda Radava, NM State Women’s Cross Country, Sr.
Hannah Bolin, Sam Houston Women’s Soccer, Jr.
Ashlyn Neireiter, UTEP Women’s Soccer, Jr.
Callahan Wiegandt, WKU Volleyball, Sr.
 
While maintaining a 3.97 GPA, Delaware’s Jake Thaw serves his community by helping organize the football team’s winter food drives at The Journey Church. His efforts help serve boxed meals to over 500 families in Newark and surrounding communities. The graduate student is a two-time CSC Academic All-District Honoree and CUSA All-Academic Team recipient. He was a William V. Campbell Trophy Semifinalist and landed on the Wuerffel Award and Jason Witten Man of the Year watch lists. Thaw tied for second on the Fightin’ Blue Hens in receiving touchdowns (3) and hauled in 31 passes for 359 yards on the year.
 
FIU’s Shamir Sterlin has been heavily involved in off-field service with the organization E.N.D. IT, a program that focuses on establishing a connection with youth in the church through a variety of fun and educational activities. The junior also volunteered with Grace Way Village, helping the less fortunate by providing meals and general support, as well as the organization Pick Up for Cancer, Inc., a group that works to clean up local parks. Prior to the season, Sterlin was named an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee and appeared on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. An Honorable Mention All-CUSA selection, he tallied 60 tackles, 2.5 TFL, two interceptions and six PBU in 2025.
 
Second-year soccer player Reina Herndon made the most in her first semester with Jax State’s SAAC, becoming actively involved as the Social Media and Marketing Chair. Herndon ensures that SAAC has the necessary posters, flyers and graphics needed for all events. She has also participated in mental health awareness activities and attended High Five Fridays at the local elementary school. This season, she appeared in 16 games for a total of 679 minutes, starting on six occasions. Outside of athletics and community service, Herndon has upheld a 4.0 GPA while studying Business, qualifying as a President’s List scholar. 
 
Throughout the fall semester, Kennesaw State’s Joshua Huiet has spent over 50 hours building a bond and lifetime memories with the Owl’s Team Impact buddy, Liam. Huiet has been the leader with the Team Impact Organization, spending quality time with Liam and his family. The senior also got to share his kicking skills with Liam’s kickball team. Academically, Huiet has earned Top Flight Owl recognition, an honor for students earning a 3.0 GPA or better. The senior was ranked fifth in the country for punts inside the 20-yard line, marking 28 total. He averaged 41.3 yards on 57 punts, 10 of which were more than 50 yards. His efforts earned him All-CUSA Honorable Mention, and he was named to the Ray Guy Watch List.
 
Liberty’s Clay Shepler has been involved in multiple organizations throughout his community as the SAAC representative for the football team. As part of Dollar Makes a Difference, Shepler helped Liberty Athletics raise over $9,000 for the Lynchburg community, while encouraging the football program to raise $3,500 to purchase school supplies for local teachers and students. He also assisted with Trick or Treat so Others Can, collecting donations and sorting and organizing over 8,000 items for the Lynchburg community. Shepler has consistently been on the Dean’s List, maintaining a 3.51 GPA while studying Camp & Outdoor Adventure Leadership.
 
Louisiana Tech’s Mary Helen Burford has been a standout in the community and academically. The sophomore has been involved with multiple community outreach opportunities such as Campus Outreach, the Alpine Nursing Home, Four Paws, the Pediatric Cancer Fundraiser, the Special Olympics, primary school teaching, Angel Tree, coaching club soccer, the Christmas Drive and the Canned Food Drive. Burford does all of that while holding a 4.0 GPA in Biology and Psychology. Her many academic accomplishments include being a CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medalist and making CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, CUSA All-Academic Team, the Dean’s List and the President’s List. On the pitch, Burford finished the season Third Team All-CUSA after starting all 19 matches on the Bulldogs’ back line.
 
Now working towards his MBA, Middle Tennessee’s Nicholas Vattiato has remained active in community service opportunities. The redshirt senior has helped with programs such as the Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Club, Camp Ability and Reading Across America. Vattiato is a three-time CUSA All-Academic honoree, a CSC Academic All-District recipient, four-time CUSA Honor Roll student and three-time CUSA Academic Medal winner. This season, he ended his illustrious Blue Raider career ranked second on the all-time list in passing yards (9,674), completions (918), attempts (1,419) and touchdowns (62).
 
Elena Bartak, the junior from Missouri State, has helped with community opportunities such as Vacation Bible School, youth soccer camps and clinics, Meals from the Heartland and Convoy of Hope. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA while studying exercise science with a minor in chemistry. Bartak has been a consistent Dean’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll honoree, as well as a two-time Maroon & White Scholar Athlete. This season, she took the pitch in all 20 matches for the Bears, logging a total of 924 minutes.
 
While at New Mexico State, senior cross country athlete Amanda Radava has become the social media manager for SAAC, helping perform numerous acts of community service in the city of Las Cruces. Most notably, she volunteered for the Dress a Child Campaign that took approximately 40 underprivileged children shopping, getting them new clothes and allowing them to pick out items of their own choosing. In the classroom, Radava has maintained a cumulative GPA above 3.9 in Kinesiology since her arrival. This year, she was a recipient of the CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and Academic Honor Roll List. Radava finished Second Team All-Conference this season and is a two-time NCAA Mountain Regional qualifier. 
 
Sam Houston’s Hannah Bolin is a SAAC member and serves on the SAAC Executive Leadership Team. She has direct oversight to the Bearkat Buddies project, which is in conjunction with CUSA’s Extra Yard for Teachers and the College Football Playoff Foundation grant implementation that supports local teachers and children in Huntsville. Athletically, Bolin has consistently provided offensive opportunities on the pitch with her passing abilities. Defensively, she helped the team post five shutouts, only allowing five goals in eight CUSA matches. She is a five-time Dean’s List honoree and an Honor’s College Scholarship recipient.
 
UTEP’s Ashlyn Neireiter has collected many hours of community service, working with programs such as Miner Morning Mania, the Salvation Army, Jardin De Milagros, Rescue Mission and Locomotives Club All Girls Session. She has maintained excellent academic standing, being named to the 2025 CUSA All-Academic Team and the CSC Academic All-District team. The junior was also a 2025 CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient and Academic Medalist. As co-captain of the soccer team, Neireiter was one of the three Miners to start in all 17 games, playing in all but eight minutes this season. She added the game-winning goal on a header in the team’s 1-0 defeat over Tarleton State.
 
WKU volleyball’s Callahan Wiegandt contributed more than 20 hours to the Bowling Green Community during the fall semester with numerous local outreach programs, including volunteering with Curbside Ministries, participating in the Special Olympics basketball game and engaging with local elementary schools through High Five Fridays. In the classroom, Wiegandt has distinguished herself as a multi-semester Dean’s List honoree. She has also been named to the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll for three consecutive academic years. The senior also serves as the SAAC president and was the host of WKU’s first student-athlete-run podcast. She has remained an integral member of WKU’s volleyball program, helping guide the team to both the CUSA regular-season championship and the CUSA tournament championship. Wiegandt has been part of the NCAA tournament teams in every season of her career.