Pudney, Stoeger named Big Sky Scholar-Athletes
7/29/2022 11:57:00 AM | General, Men's Tennis, Soccer
Ed Pudney of the Montana men's tennis team and Taylor Stoeger of the Griz soccer team were named Montana's Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athletes on Friday.
The annual award, with one male and one female winner from each school, caps the Big Sky's academic year, which includes the naming of fall, winter and spring Academic All-Big Sky teams.
To be eligible for Scholar-Athlete honors, nominees must have exhausted their eligibility, have a minimum of a 3.2 GPA and competed at their school for at least two years.
"Once again, our annual Scholar-Athletes highlight the best and brightest the Big Sky Conference has to offer," league commissioner Tom Wistrcill said.
"We are so proud of this exemplary group of student-athletes for not only being leaders on the field but also in classrooms around the league.
"We are excited to watch their futures unfold as this group continues to represent the Big Sky well after their collegiate careers have concluded."
Pudney leaves Montana as one of the most decorated players to ever wear maroon and silver.
He capped his career with a historic senior season that saw him become Montana's highest regionally ranked singles player ever at No. 14, be named the ITA Mountain Region's Most Improved Senior and earn Big Sky MVP honors as well as being a unanimous first-team all-league pick.
The Englishman posted a Big Sky-best 12-5 singles record in the spring and a 5-2 conference record.
He went 11-1 during the fall tournament season to post an impressive 23-6 overall singles record as a senior, taking upset wins over players from Boise State, Air Force, Utah and Utah State along the way.
Stoeger joined Montana prior to the 2019-20 season after playing two years at Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College.
In three years as a Grizzly, Stoeger helped Montana win a pair of Big Sky regular-season titles and advance to two NCAA tournaments.
In the 2021 spring season, Montana swept both the regular-season and tournament Big Sky titles.
Stoeger scored both goals in the Grizzlies' 2-1 overtime win over Northern Colorado in what turned out to be the tournament championship match to earn MVP honors.
She was named first-team All-Big Sky in the fall of 2021 as a fifth-year senior as Montana returned to the NCAA tournament. Her seven goals ranked third in the Big Sky.
Stoeger ended her career with 12 goals and seven assists. She becomes the seventh Griz soccer player to earn Big Sky Scholar-Athlete honors, the fourth in the last six years.
2021-22 Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athletes
Binghamton: Justin Lane, Men's Golf, Master's of Business Administration (Woodstock, N.Y.)
Cal Poly: Dominic Stellini-Splan, Football, Ethnic Studies (Tracy, Calif.)
Eastern Washington: Maggie Nelson, Women's Track and Field, Master's of Physical Education (Spangle, Wash.)
Eastern Washington: Joe Gauthier, Men's Track and Field, Health and Physical Education (West Richland, Wash.)
Hartford: Jared Winiarz, Men's Golf, Marketing (Norton, Mass.)
Idaho: Avrie Fox, Women's Soccer, Medical Science (Vista, Calif.)
Idaho: Timothy Dohm, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Chemistry (Placentia, Calif.)
Idaho State: Adriene Pavek, Women's Tennis, Biological Science/BMS (Pocatello, Idaho)
Idaho State: Zak Montoya, Men's Track & Field, Athletic Administration (Rupert, Idaho)
Montana: Taylor Stoeger, Soccer, Speech-Language Pathology (Green River, Wyo.)
Montana: Ed Pudney, Men's Tennis, Management Information Systems (Southend-on-Sea, England)
Montana State: Celestia Hammond, Women's Track & Field, Chemical Engineering (Billings, Mont.)
Montana State: Troy Andersen, Football, Ag Business (Dillon, Mont.)
Northern Arizona: Lauren Orndoff, Women's Basketball, Master's of Communication (Medford, Ore.)
Northern Arizona: Theo Quax, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Civil Engineering (Auckland, New Zealand)
Northern Colorado: Alison Zigler, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field (Pewaukee, Wis.)
Northern Colorado: Matt Johnson II, Men's Basketball, Psychology (Aurora, Colo.)
Portland State: Windy Huang, Women's Golf, Bachelor of Science Accounting/Master's of Finance (Taipei, Taiwan)
Portland State: Tyson Pauling, Football, Bachelor of Science Psychology/Master of Science Education Leadership and Policy Matters (Victorville, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Shantel Nnaji, Women's Track & Field, Kinesiology (Tracy, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Evan Stork, Men's Track & Field, Kinesiology (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Southern Utah: Darri Dotson, Women's Basketball, Mathematical Science (Panguitch, Utah)
Southern Utah: Justin Miller, Football, Management (Highland, Utah)
UC Davis: Erron Duncan, Football, Education (Stockton, Calif.)
Weber State: Rylin Adams, Volleyball, Social Work (Lehi, Utah)
Weber State: Conner Mortensen, Football, Nursing (Overton, Nev.)
The annual award, with one male and one female winner from each school, caps the Big Sky's academic year, which includes the naming of fall, winter and spring Academic All-Big Sky teams.
To be eligible for Scholar-Athlete honors, nominees must have exhausted their eligibility, have a minimum of a 3.2 GPA and competed at their school for at least two years.
"Once again, our annual Scholar-Athletes highlight the best and brightest the Big Sky Conference has to offer," league commissioner Tom Wistrcill said.
"We are so proud of this exemplary group of student-athletes for not only being leaders on the field but also in classrooms around the league.
"We are excited to watch their futures unfold as this group continues to represent the Big Sky well after their collegiate careers have concluded."
Pudney leaves Montana as one of the most decorated players to ever wear maroon and silver.
He capped his career with a historic senior season that saw him become Montana's highest regionally ranked singles player ever at No. 14, be named the ITA Mountain Region's Most Improved Senior and earn Big Sky MVP honors as well as being a unanimous first-team all-league pick.
The Englishman posted a Big Sky-best 12-5 singles record in the spring and a 5-2 conference record.
He went 11-1 during the fall tournament season to post an impressive 23-6 overall singles record as a senior, taking upset wins over players from Boise State, Air Force, Utah and Utah State along the way.
Stoeger joined Montana prior to the 2019-20 season after playing two years at Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College.
In three years as a Grizzly, Stoeger helped Montana win a pair of Big Sky regular-season titles and advance to two NCAA tournaments.
In the 2021 spring season, Montana swept both the regular-season and tournament Big Sky titles.
Stoeger scored both goals in the Grizzlies' 2-1 overtime win over Northern Colorado in what turned out to be the tournament championship match to earn MVP honors.
She was named first-team All-Big Sky in the fall of 2021 as a fifth-year senior as Montana returned to the NCAA tournament. Her seven goals ranked third in the Big Sky.
Stoeger ended her career with 12 goals and seven assists. She becomes the seventh Griz soccer player to earn Big Sky Scholar-Athlete honors, the fourth in the last six years.
2021-22 Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athletes
Binghamton: Justin Lane, Men's Golf, Master's of Business Administration (Woodstock, N.Y.)
Cal Poly: Dominic Stellini-Splan, Football, Ethnic Studies (Tracy, Calif.)
Eastern Washington: Maggie Nelson, Women's Track and Field, Master's of Physical Education (Spangle, Wash.)
Eastern Washington: Joe Gauthier, Men's Track and Field, Health and Physical Education (West Richland, Wash.)
Hartford: Jared Winiarz, Men's Golf, Marketing (Norton, Mass.)
Idaho: Avrie Fox, Women's Soccer, Medical Science (Vista, Calif.)
Idaho: Timothy Dohm, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Chemistry (Placentia, Calif.)
Idaho State: Adriene Pavek, Women's Tennis, Biological Science/BMS (Pocatello, Idaho)
Idaho State: Zak Montoya, Men's Track & Field, Athletic Administration (Rupert, Idaho)
Montana: Taylor Stoeger, Soccer, Speech-Language Pathology (Green River, Wyo.)
Montana: Ed Pudney, Men's Tennis, Management Information Systems (Southend-on-Sea, England)
Montana State: Celestia Hammond, Women's Track & Field, Chemical Engineering (Billings, Mont.)
Montana State: Troy Andersen, Football, Ag Business (Dillon, Mont.)
Northern Arizona: Lauren Orndoff, Women's Basketball, Master's of Communication (Medford, Ore.)
Northern Arizona: Theo Quax, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Civil Engineering (Auckland, New Zealand)
Northern Colorado: Alison Zigler, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field (Pewaukee, Wis.)
Northern Colorado: Matt Johnson II, Men's Basketball, Psychology (Aurora, Colo.)
Portland State: Windy Huang, Women's Golf, Bachelor of Science Accounting/Master's of Finance (Taipei, Taiwan)
Portland State: Tyson Pauling, Football, Bachelor of Science Psychology/Master of Science Education Leadership and Policy Matters (Victorville, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Shantel Nnaji, Women's Track & Field, Kinesiology (Tracy, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Evan Stork, Men's Track & Field, Kinesiology (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Southern Utah: Darri Dotson, Women's Basketball, Mathematical Science (Panguitch, Utah)
Southern Utah: Justin Miller, Football, Management (Highland, Utah)
UC Davis: Erron Duncan, Football, Education (Stockton, Calif.)
Weber State: Rylin Adams, Volleyball, Social Work (Lehi, Utah)
Weber State: Conner Mortensen, Football, Nursing (Overton, Nev.)
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