RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Wednesday, the Great American Conference named Ouachita Baptist cross country and track & field standout Elise Knight as its 2025-26 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Knight became the second Tiger honored as Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. She matches the feat earned by former volleyball and basketball standout Kori Bullard, who claimed the honor in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
In May, she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Women’s Track & Field Championships in the steeplechase. At the event, she won the NCAA Elite Scholar Athlete Award. On the track, she placed 21st. She earned All-Region and First-Team All-GAC honors in the steeplechase. She helped the Tigers win a team cross country title in 2024.
She placed on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team for Cross Country and Track & Field. She graduated with a 4.00 GPA in Biophysics & Professional Chemistry. She produced two first-author publications including an honor’s program thesis.
She wrote a winning $10,000 grant application for an extensive outreach program targeting local high school chemistry teachers in rural areas to provide chemistry laboratory training and lab kits.
Other nominees for the 2025-26 GAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award included Arkansas-Monticello’s Lauren Spoon (Softball), Arkansas Tech’s Avery Stanley (Cross Country/Track & Field), East Central’s Makenzy Herman (Basketball), Harding’s Cadence Sansom (Track & Field), Henderson State’s Kristina Kozlova (Cross Country and Tennis), Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Summya Adigun (Basketball), Oklahoma Baptist’s Ally Ryan (Softball), Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Carly Button (Golf), Southern Arkansas’ Kassie Rhodes (Softball), Southern Nazarene’s Kate Wright (Volleyball) and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Cameron Turner (Volleyball).