You can find their names etched all over the Eastern Washington University track and field record books, and now, two members of the program in Maggie Nelson and Joe Gauthier are EWU's recipients of the Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2021-22 school year. The league office announced on Friday, July 29.
 
Gauthier hails from West Richland, Wash., where he graduated from Hanford High School in 2017. He recently earned his degree in health and physical education. Nelson, a 2016 Liberty High School in Spangle, Wash., graduate, earned her Master's degree in physical education. She spent two years at Spokane Community College before joining the Eagles.
 
The Big Sky 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 this award, the student-athlete must have exhausted his or her intercollegiate athletic eligibility and/or be a member of the graduating class, earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, been a participant in a Conference-sponsored sport, completed at least two years of intercollegiate competition at the institution, and have been a letter winner.
 
Nelson is a four-time All-Big Sky All-Academic team selection. She owns Eastern's school records in both the pentathlon (3,702 points) and the heptathlon (5,173 points), and is the first Eagle in program history to score over 5,000 points in the heptathlon. She earned Big Sky Field Athlete of the Week honors this season for her school record performance.
 
She also made history at both the indoor and the outdoor conference championship this season, becoming the first female in EWU history to earn All-Big Sky honors in the pentathlon and the heptathlon, finishing third in both events in 2021-22. For good measure, Nelson also made her mark in the javelin as a 2021-22 West Regional qualifier. Nelson ranks seventh all-time in EWU history in the event with a toss of 158-8, and placed third in the javelin at the 2021-22 BSC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Gauthier is also a four-time All-Big Sky All-Academic selection. He earned eight All-Big Sky honors in his career, becoming just the sixth Eagle in program history to earn six-or-more All-Conference nods in a career. His honors include three first-place finishes (2018 Outdoors 4x100 Relay, 2021 Outdoors 100-meters, 2021 4x100 Relay), two runner-up finishes (2022 Indoors 60-meters, 2022 Outdoors 4x100 Relay), and three third-place finishes (2019 Indoors 60-meters, 2019 Outdoors 200-meters, 2022 Outdoors 100-meters).
 
In the EWU record book, he is third all-time in the 100m and fifth all-time in the 200m outdoors. He owns two school records, including the outdoor 4x100 where he also ranks third and fourth on the list for that event as well. He is also the school record holder in the 60m, surpassing a mark that stood for 23 years before he broke it in 2022.
 
This marks the second-straight year that both a male and female representative from the EWU track and field team have been selected as EWU's Big Sky Scholar-Athletes and the third-straight year for a member of the women's program. A full list of selections can be found below.
 
EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RECIPIENTS OF THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD

Year	Female Athlete, Sport	Male Athlete, Sport
2021-22	Maggie Nelson, Track & Field	Joe Gauthier, Track & Field
2020-21	Morgan Fossen, Track & Field	Parker Bowden, Track & Field
2019-20	Madison Doepker, Track & Field	Mason Peatling, Basketball
2018-19	Violet Kapri Morrow, Basketball	Roldan Alcobendas, Football
2017-18	Chloe Williams, Soccer	Bogdan Bliznyuk, Basketball
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