Seven dancers named to NAIA Scholar-Athlete list

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 28, 2024 in Dance

2024 NAIA Dance Scholar-Athletes

SEWARD, Neb. – Seven Bulldogs earned recognition as 2024 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes, as announced by the NAIA on Thursday (March 28). The honor roll includes repeat NAIA Scholar-Athletes in Aubrey Baumann, Avery Lewis, Stephanie Mashuga, Seanna Patterson and Katheryn Rice. The first-time honorees are Taylor Larsen and Elise O’Neill.

The 2024 list of competitive dance honorees features 176 total student-athletes. In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at said institution.

Concordia University ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,322 entering the 2023-24 academic year. The school record for number of Scholar-Athletes in one academic year is 226 achieved in 2019-20. Concordia has been a regular national leader for both Scholar-Athletes and Scholar-Teams.

2024 Competitive Dance NAIA Scholar-Athletes

·        Aubrey Baumann (Chester, S.D.)

·        Taylor Larsen (Ravenna, Neb.)

·        Avery Lewis (Seward, Neb.)

·        Stephanie Mashuga (Gibbon, Minn.)

·        Elise O’Neill (North Platte, Neb.)

·        Seanna Patterson (Lincoln, Neb.)

·        Katheryn Rice (Bellevue, Neb.)