Seven Owls Earn C-USA Scholar Athlete Accolades

DALLAS – A league-leading seven Rice University student-athletes were recognized for being named their respective sport's Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year, the league office announced on Monday.

Voted on by C-USA's 14 FARs (Faculty Athletics Representatives), the awards are presented to the top student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport based on academic achievement (GPA), athletic achievement, and service.

The 18 scholar-athletes were selected from C-USA's full-time and affiliate member institutions across 19 sports (combining indoor and outdoor track & field).

Maria Budin (Women's Tennis)
Earned Academic All-Conference USA Honors, posting a 3.91 GPA while majoring in Psychology, as well as all-conference honors in doubles. Budin finished 14-4 in singles to place second on the team and combined with Diae El Jardi to reach as high as 16th in the nation during the season in doubles and qualified for the NCAA Championship. Duo was 14-5 in dual competition at the first doubles line, the most for Rice since Natalie Beazant and Dominique Harmath were 20-6 in 2013. They shared C-USA Athlete of the Week honors on March 2 after handing Texas A&M's then No. 2 Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Markarova their first loss of the year.

Max Fiedler (Men's Basketball)
A two-time member of the Conference USA All-Academic Team, Fiedler earns men's basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a second straight season. He currently holds a 3.93 GPA while majoring in Mathematical Economic Analysis. Fiedler averaged 9.9 points while leading the team with 7.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He became the first player in school history to record back-to-back seasons with at least 300 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists. The Indialantic, Fla., native also became just the fourth player in school history to lead the team in rebounds and assists while placing in the top ten in the league in rebounding, double-doubles, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Corbett Fong (Men's Track & Field)
A repeat winner of the men's track & field Scholar Athlete of the Year, Fong holds a 3.95 GPA while majoring in Mechanical Engineering. This past year, Fong earned C-USA All-Conference honors in both the outdoor and indoor season. He placed fourth in the javelin with a personal best mark of 61.45m (201-7) while also establishing a personal best total of 4974 points in the heptathlon, also finishing fourth. Fong was the 2020-21 Hubert Bray Rice Scholar Athlete of the Year Awardee and has been named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll four times.

Grace Forbes (Women's Cross Country)
The 2021-22 Michael L. Slive Conference USA Female Athlete of the Year, Forbes earns her second straight women's cross country Scholar Athlete of the Year and third overall (won T&F in 2021). Forbes was once again the Owls No. 1 runner during the cross country season and won her second straight USTFCCCA South Central Region Athlete of the Year award. The junior helped lead the Owls to the NCAA Championships as a team for the seventh time in program history and won five individual races during the season, including the South Central Regional. She also won the C-USA individual title for a second straight year and placed 45th at the NCAA Championships. Forbes is a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Awardee and has been named to the C-USA All-Academic Team three times. Forbes holds a 3.88 GPA and is majoring in Sports Medicine and Exercise Physiology.

Hociel Landa (Men's Cross Country)
A repeat winner of the men's cross country Scholar Athlete of the Year, Landa earned his Master's in Mechanical Engineering with a 3.77 GPA. The Phoenix, Ariz. native concluded his career as a five-time all-conference performer (Top-10 all five races), which included a third place result at this past season's C-USA Championships. Landa would go on to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the second time in his career with a 15th place finish. Landa earned C-USA Academic Honor Roll honors five times and was twice a Rice University Honor Athlete and Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award qualifier.

Sumit Sarkar (Men's Tennis)
Sarkar is the first Owl to repeat as the C-USA Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete, posting a 3.44 GPA while majoring in Statistics. He achieved a 5-6 mark in singles (4-3 at the second line) and a 7-9 mark in doubles (all at the first line) and combined with Dylan Heap to defeat Charlotte's 78th ranked team at the first line. Sarkar was a five-time first team All C-USA selection in his career as well as a two-time NCAA qualifier and the 2019 C-USA Player of the Year.

Delaney Schultz (Women's Soccer)
A double-major in Computer Science and Cognitive Sciences, Schulz holds a 3.70 GPA while having earned C-USA All-Academic Team honors, as well as being named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America Team. The C-USA Player and Midfielder of the Year led the team with nine goals, seven assists, and 25 points. She was second in the conference in goals and points and fourth in assists, while her four game-winning goals were the best in the league. She accounted for 64.0% of Rice's goals, scoring or assisting on 16 of the team's 25. Of her nine goals, six tied or gave Rice the lead, including two of their three overtime goals.

-RiceOwls.com-

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