BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Athletics had two student-athletes named 2025-26 Conference USA Scholar Athletes of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
Connor Owens was named the CUSA Men's Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year and Elizabeth Sobieski was named the CUSA Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year.
The awards, voted on by the conference's 12 faculty athletics representatives, are presented to the top student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport based on academic achievement (GPA), athletic achievement and service.
It is the second consecutive year a WKU Women's Tennis player has been named the CUSA Women's Tennis Player of the Year. Sobieski posted a 4.00 GPA during the 2025-26 academic year and recently graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. During her career, Sobieski was named to the CUSA Commissioner's Honor Roll, received the CUSA Commissioner's Academic Medal and earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-District Team. Sobieski spent the past two seasons with the Lady Toppers after transferring from Valparaiso. With WKU, she claimed nine singles wins, including five during the 2026 campaign. Sobieski added six doubles wins during her final season.
Owens, a Criminology major, also recorded a 4.00 GPA during the 2025-26 academic year. He was named to the CUSA Commissioner's Honor Roll and was a recipient of the CUSA Commissioner's Academic Medal. Owens posted his best performance of the year in the Jim Vargo Invitational hosted by Bellarmine to open the 2026 outdoor season, claiming a runner-up finish in the hammer throw and a sixth-place finish in the discus.
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