Western Athletic Conference

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DENVER - Utah Valley baseball player Kyle Valgardson and Missouri-Kansas City volleyball player Sydney Crimmins have been named the 2015-16 Western Athletic Conference Stan Bates Award winners. Named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates, the annual award is given to the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes and recognizes athletic, academic and community accomplishments. The award includes a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Valgardson, from Provo, Utah, earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in April, graduating with a 3.7 cumulative grade-point average. A three-time Academic All-WAC honoree, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 first team as a senior and was named Utah Valley Scholar-Athlete of the Month in 2015.

The team's Most Valuable Pitcher in 2016, Valgardson went 3-1 and set the school single-season record with nine saves, good for third in the WAC. He pitched the final three outs of Utah Valley's 4-0 WAC Tournament-clinching win over Seattle U and earned a pair of saves during the tournament. Utah Valley's career leader in saves (18), Valgardson did not allow an earned run in his final 15 appearances, spanning 24 innings, and allowed just one earned run in 35 relief innings for a 0.26 ERA.

A member of the Utah Valley Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Valgardson served as a tutor in 2015-16. From 2012-16, he led a religious youth group and volunteered at the Orem Rotary Golf Tournament. He plans to attend Utah to earn a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.

“Kyle was THE leader in our program, overseeing all of our peer group leaders as well as their peer groups,” Utah Valley Head Coach Eric Madsen said. “His selfless guidance inspired others to become leaders and strive to follow his greatness. Kyle was our most important pitcher on our staff. He was used in tough situations in games that needed to be won, being relied on as a closer, but also earlier in games when we needed it. When on the mound, his teammates knew we would win by his presence.”

Crimmins, from Clay Center, Kan., earned a bachelor's degree in health sciences in May and graduated magna cum laude with a 3.91 cumulative GPA. A three-time Academic All-WAC honoree, she was also named a Distinguished Scholar on The Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence in 2012-13. Crimmins was also a member of the Bachelor of Health Sciences Society and the Golden Key International Honor Society.

A four-year starter, Crimmins is a three-time All-WAC selection and was named to seven all-tournament teams during her career. She was twice named the UMKC Above and Beyond recipient, given to the top student-athlete at the school and was the 2013-14 Cynthia Joy Gabel Memorial Endowment winner. She holds the school record with 117 consecutive matches played, ranks eighth all-time in hitting percentage (.255) and ninth in total kills (1,017).

In addition to her stellar academics, Crimmins has volunteered in numerous community service organizations and events, including Happy Bottoms, the Boys & Girls Club, the NCAA Backpack Program, Walk-A-Mile, Celebrity Reading Day, UMKC Move-In Day and the Morning Glory Cafe, among others.

The WAC representative of the National SAAC, Crimmins served as vice president of both the UMKC and WAC SAACs and earned a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. A top 30 finalist for the Senior C.L.A.S.S. Award, she was the UMKC Starr Women's Hall of Fame Introductory Speaker in 2015. She is pursuing a master's degree in public administration.

“Sydney is a shining example of all that is good in collegiate athletics,” UMKC Head Coach Christi Posey said. “A gifted athlete with a charismatic personality, she provided steady leadership throughout her career. She is positive, hard-working and extremely self-disciplined, making significant contributions to the improvement of a program that had never experienced consecutive winning seasons.”