By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – Since arrived on the campus of Northwest Nazarene University for the 2021-22 academic year,
Laurenz Waldbauer has put together a memorable career on the Nighthawks’ track & field team.
The javelin specialist made waves in his debut season four years ago and capped off the 2025 campaign with a national runner-up finish. His athletic performance, coupled with a perfect 4.0
grade point average while working towards his degree in global business,
earned him the NCAA Elite 90 award presented to one student-athlete at each of the NCAA’s 90 national championship events who carries the highest cumulative GPA. On Tuesday, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced that the league’s athletic directors voted Waldbauer the 2024-25 GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.
The GNAC Scholar Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one male and one female deemed to have achieved the highest performance both academically and athletically. Waldbauer was a two-time College Sports Communicators academic all-district selection and is expected to earn CSC academic All-America honors for the second straight year when the awards are announced in July. He was also a two-time academic all-conference honoree, earning the award in each year he was eligible while competing for the Nighthawks. He became the fourth man and 10th student-athlete overall in GNAC history to earn the NCAA Elite 90 award, and was the first in the sport of men’s track & field.
| GNAC NCAA Elite 90 Award Winners |
| Year |
Athlete |
School |
Sport |
| 2024-25 |
Laurenz Waldbauer |
Northwest Nazarene |
Men's Outdoor Track & Field |
| 2024-25 |
Kellen Newsome |
Northwest Nazarene |
Baseball |
| 2023-24 |
Audrey Rekedal |
Seattle Pacific |
Women’s Rowing |
| 2022-23 |
Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks |
Western Washington |
Women’s Rowing |
| 2021-22 |
Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks |
Western Washington |
Women’s Rowing |
| 2020-21 |
Ben Johnson |
Northwest Nazarene |
Baseball |
| 2019-20 |
Yvonne Jeschke |
Alaska Anchorage |
Women’s Cross Country |
| 2019-20 |
Marie Ries |
Alaska Anchorage |
Women’s Indoor Track & Field |
| 2018-19 |
Tyler Jones |
Western Oregon |
Men’s Cross Country |
| 2018-19 |
Alexa Shindruk |
Central Washington |
Women’s Cross Country |
| 2009-10 |
Suzie Strickler |
Seattle Pacific |
Women’s Cross Country |
The GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award is another historic achievement that will be added to a lengthy list of accolades for the senior from Vilsbiburg, Germany, as he became the first man in school history to capture the league’s top individual academic honor. Overall he is the third Nighthawk student-athlete to earn the award, joining 2008-09 winner Ashley Puga (soccer/track & field) and 2007-08 winner Amanda Peters (soccer/track & field).
Waldbauer’s third season of competition with the Nighthawks was capped by a memorable performance at the NCAA Championships in Pueblo, Colo., on May 24. After a throw of 203-3 feet (61.97 meters) on his first attempt in the javelin finals, Waldbauer ripped off a season-best toss of 236-5 feet (72.06 meters) on his second attempt. The mighty heave moved his name to the top of the leaderboard among the field of 22 competitors, and after five rounds of competition he still occupied the top spot.
It took a throw of 249-2 feet (75.94 meters) by Caleb Calvin of Pittsburg State on his final attempt to snatch what would have been a national title from Waldbauer’s grasp, as the Nighthawk star settled for an NCAA runner-up finish. He became the highest GNAC javelin finisher at an NCAA Championship in nearly a decade, earning the conference’s first silver medal since Alaska Anchorage’s Cody Parker achieved that feat in 2016. Overall Waldbauer became the sixth man in conference history to finish second or higher in the event at the national meet, and matched 2009 national runner-up Josh Heidegger for the best finish in school history.
Competing in the national championship meet for the third time in his career, the second-place finish was the best of Waldbauer’s career. He knocked on the door of first-team All-America status on each of his prior appearances, finishing 13th as a freshman in 2022 and 13th again as a junior last year. Waldbauer also has three GNAC medals to his name, winning the conference title in the javelin in 2022 and finishing as the GNAC runner-up in both 2024 and 2025.
While the throw that earned him the 2025 national silver medal was the fifth best among any Division II competitor this year, it was just shy of Waldbauer’s collegiate personal best. In just his third meet in his freshman season at NNU, Waldbauer delivered a throw of 237-6 feet (72.38 meters) on April 30, 2022 to earn a win at the Idaho State Bengal Invitational. That performance was the second-best in GNAC history at the time and wound up being the top mark of his NNU career. A throw of 238-2 (72.60 meters) by Simon Fraser’s Jarrett Chong at the 2025 GNAC Championships was the only mark throughout Waldbauer’s career that was further. Overall Waldbauer sits third on the GNAC all-time list, behind Chong and GNAC record holder Cody Parker of Alaska Anchorage who threw 255-10 (77.98 meters) in 2013.
Waldbauer did not compete for the Nighthawks during the 2023 outdoor season, and retains one year of athletic eligibility with the option to return in 2026 if he chooses.
It is the fifth year in a row that the GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year has gone to a track & field student-athlete and ninth time overall since the conference was founded in 2001-02.
2025 GNAC Athlete of the Year Awards
GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year – Laurenz Waldbauer, NNU, Track & Field
GNAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year – TBA June 19, 2025
GNAC Male Athlete of the Year – TBA June 24, 2025
GNAC Female Athlete of the Year – TBA June 26, 2025