Record-breaking distance runner Sarah Reiter and four-time football All-American Cooper Kupp have been selected as Eastern Washington University's recipients of the Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2016-17 school year. Reiter is from Renton, Wash., and is a 2012 graduate of Lindbergh High School and Kupp graduated in 2012 from Davis High School in Yakima, Wash.

The Scholar-Athlete Award honors the "best of the best" of the conference's more than 3,500 student-athletes. One senior male and one senior female from each school in the league are recognized for their athletic and academic achievements.

To qualify for the award, a student-athlete must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale), be a member of the graduating class and/or have completed their last year of intercollegiate athletic eligibility, have completed at least two years of intercollegiate competition at the institution and be a letter winner.

A participant in the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Reiter has a 3.92 grade point average as a business administration major. Kupp has a 3.63 GPA in economics. Reiter was selected to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team 10 times in her career (3 XC, 3 indoor, 4 outdoor), and Kupp was chosen all four years he was an Eagle.

Reiter transferred to Eastern from Montana State, and as a sophomore in cross country in 2014 she won the Big Sky Conference Cross Country title. In 2015 and 2016 she advanced to the NCAA Championships, placing 46th as a junior and 86th as a senior. She joined Kari McKay (1990-91) as the only Eagles to appear in multiple NCAA championships, and she accounted for two of EWU's seven appearances in school history.

In track and field, Reiter won All-Big Sky Conference honors four times by finishing in the top three in individual events. She also holds Eastern records in the 5,000 (16:21.50) outdoors, as well as the 3,000 (9:39.19) and 5,000 (17:06.00) indoors. She came less than a second from McKay's record in the 10,000 meters (33:46.71, the record is 33:46.1).

Kupp is a new member of the Los Angeles Rams after being taken in the third round of the National Football League Draft as the 69th pick overall. He became the second-highest choice in school history after having played in the Senior Bowl and being selected for the NFL Combine.

He earned 14 different national player of the year accolades in his career and was a three-time Academic All-America selection. Twice he was selected as the NCAA Football Championship  Subdivision Player of the Year by the FCS Athletic Director's Association, and won the 2015 Walter Payton Award.

In 2016, Kupp became the first wide receiver and just the fourth player overall in the 54-year history of the Big Sky Conference to earn first team All-Big Sky honors four seasons. In 2015, Kupp became only the second wide receiver in 42 years to capture the Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP Award, then became one of only 10 repeat winners in league history in 2016 when he shared the award with teammate Gage Gubrud.

Kupp was also a two-time team co-captain and was twice selected as an Academic All-Star by the FCS Athletic Director's Association. He was honored as Big Sky Conference Player of the Week six times in his career – four times on offense and twice on special teams.

He established 15 FCS, 11 Big Sky and 29 EWU records in his illustrious 52-game Eastern career (all as a starter), and added a collegiate all-division mark with 6,464 receiving yards. His 6,464 yards, 428 receptions, 73 touchdown catches, 124.3 average yards per game and 1.40 average TDs per game were all FCS records. Kupp averaged a TD reception for every 5.9 catches in his career. He scored at least once in 43 of 52 games he played, and caught at least two passes in all 52 games he played.

Kupp led EWU to 41 victories overall in four seasons, including a 28-4 record in the Big Sky Conference. Eastern won two outright Big Sky Conference championships, a co-title his senior season, had two unbeaten league seasons and helped EWU advance to the NCAA Football Championship Playoff berths as a freshman, sophomore and senior. Twice Eastern advanced to the semifinals and once to the quarterfinal round.

Eastern was 2-2 versus the Pac-12 Conference in Kupp's four seasons at Eastern, piling up 11 touchdowns receiving on a total of 40 catches for 716 yards. That's an average of 17.9 yards per catch and a TD every 3.6 grabs against the four Pac-12 schools in the Pacific Northwest – Washington State, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State.
 
 
EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RECIPIENTS OF THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD

Year	Female Athlete, Sport	Male Athlete, Sport
2016-17	Sarah Reiter, Cross Country/Track & Field	Cooper Kupp, Football
2015-16	Hayley Hodgins, Basketball	Venky Jois, Basketball
2014-15	Melissa Williams, Basketball	Jordan Arakawa, Track & Field
2013-14	Ashley Wright, Volleyball	Ashton Miller, Football
2012-13	Cora Kellerman, Volleyball/Track & Field	Jeff Minnerly, Football
2011-12	Shene Davis, Track & Field	Bowe Ebding, Track & Field/Cross Country
2010-11	Julie Piper, Basketball	Matt Martin, Football
2009-10	Christy Borders, Track & Field	Jacob Kragt, Football
2008-09	Bonnie Berscheid, Track & Field	Marcus Walker, Football
2007-08	Camille Moseley, Track & Field/Cross Country	Tom McAndrews, Football
2006-07	Joanna Chadd, Basketball	David Paul, Track & Field
2005-06	Beth Russell, Soccer	Joey Cwik, Football
2004-05	Keva Sonderen, Volleyball	Ty Weingard, Track & Field
2003-04	Kathleen Nygaard, Basketball	Kyler Randall, Football
2002-03	Christie Kight, Track & Field	Kurt Kraemer, Track & Field
2001-02	Robyn Felder, Volleyball	Mike Oien, Track & Field
2000-01	Angie Hall, Volleyball	Lance Ballew, Football
1999-00	Kim Maxwell, Volleyball	Ryan Hansen, Basketball
1998-99	Kim Exner, Volleyball	Mike MacKenzie, Football
1997-98	Lora Botha, Volleyball	Jeff Ogden, Football
1996-97	Jaime Dotson, Volleyball	Jason Baerlocher, Track & Field
1995-96	Resa Watterson, Basketball	Jesse Hardt, Football
1994-95	Lori Napier, Basketball	Noah Chambreau, Track & Field
1993-94	Andrea Pochman, Volleyball	Tony Brooks, Football
1992-93	Angela Grant, Volleyball	Trevor Westlund, Football
1991-92	Kari McKay, Track & Field/Cross Country	Kurt Schulz, Football
1990-91	Nancy Kuiper, Track & Field	John Garrison, Basketball
1989-90	Suzanne Vick, Volleyball	Jack Folger, Track & Field/Cross Country
1988-89	Lorna Barr, Volleyball	Jeff Mickel, Football
1987-88	Sonya Gaubinger, Basketball	Hogan Wrixon, Track & Field