RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Wednesday, the Great American Conference announced Southern Nazarene track & field star Colter Bufford as its Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Bufford became the third GAC student athlete to win consecutive Scholar Athlete honors. A fellow Crimson Storm track & field standout, Colin Pasque, earned the award in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Harding’s Matthew Hipshire won in 2021 and 2021-22.
Bufford, owner of a 4.00 GPA in Biochemistry, received the Excellent Presenter Award in Cell Biology at the American Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) out of thousands of presenters. He conducted research during the academic year at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in the Kirkland and Stout laboratories investigating the physiological role of estrogen receptor 17 alpha signaling. Johns Hopkins University selected Bufford for a Summer 2026 research internship in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
On the track, he finished third at the GAC Championships in the javelin. During the outdoor season, he achieved an NCAA Provisional mark in the event. At the GAC Championships, he added an 11th-place showing in the shot put.
On campus, he has served as the President of the Tri Beta Biological Honor Society where he helped organize activities focused on promoting student engagement in biology, research, and professional development and as the President of the Honors Society where he assisted with academic and service-oriented programming for students.
Other nominees for the 2025-26 GAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award included Arkansas-Monticello’s Tyler Bribiescas (Baseball), Arkansas Tech’s DeRion Crooms (Football), East Central’s Seth Spady (Football), Harding’s Andrew Miller (Football), Henderson State’s Andrew Edwards (Football), Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Jason McCarty (Baseball), Oklahoma Baptist’s Carter Lowry (Football), Ouachita Baptist’s Tyler Andruss (Swimming & Diving), Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Eric Poindexter (Tennis), Southern Arkansas’ Casey Cobb (Football) and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Ryan Carlisle (Golf).