BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference announced its academic awards for the 2025-26 season, with HCU garnering five Medal of Honor recipients and 14 Commissioner's Honor Roll winners. It is the most Medal of Honors winners in one season for HCU, and second-most Honor Roll recipients.
Ricardo Garcia,
Nico Kross,
Santiago Maynez,
Cezar Onut and
Ben Thirkill each were awarded the OVC Academic Medal of Honor. This award is given to student-athletes who achieved the highest GPA in a conference-sponsored sport, and every recipient in this year's group carried a perfect 4.0 for the year. The quintet were all first-time recipients, part of a group of a league-record 368 honorees to receive the league's highest academic honor.
All five were also part of a group of 14 Huskies to be named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll. They joined repeat selections
Alex Aitken,
Jireh Oyebamiji,
Simeon Dishman and
Daniel Ejerenwa as well
Nygel Jobe,
Aidan Lopez,
Marcos Moore,
Kacy Parish and
Jace Starling.
Aitken, a previous two-time Medal of Honor winner, and Oyebamiji earned Commissioner's Honor Roll for the third time each. Onut joined Dishman and Ejerenwa as two-time honorees.
The Commissioner's Honor Roll is for all athletes who complete the year with a 3.25 GPA or better. It is the third straight year for the Huskies to have double-digit honorees. There were 1,766 total student-athletes honored across all conference-affiliated sports, the second-most in league history.
HCU has now had 42 student-athletes honored with Honor Roll status and 10 to earn the Medal of Honor during their three years in the Ohio Valley Conference.
In addition to the Ohio Valley Conference honors, the United Soccer Coaches announced their Team Academic Award winners for the 2025-26 academic year. The Huskies were one of 326 men's teams across the country to earn accolades, carrying a 3.44 GPA for the year. They, along with the HCU women's team, were one of 175 schools that had both men's and women's programs recognized.
USC is the world's largest association of soccer coaches, serving members at every level with education, community and recognition.
HCU finished 11-5-3 overall last year as the senior forward from Houston helped HCU advance to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship match for the second straight season, recording the most victories in a single season since 1990.
The Huskies played their first preseason friendly of the season last Friday evening, racing out to a 4-0 lead at the intermission behind two goals from
Ryan Okerayi in what became a 5-1 final scoreline over Dallas Richland at Sorrels Field. HCU will play a second home exhibition on Saturday, August 15 against St. Edward's University with kick-off set for 7 pm.
The regular season begins with three straight fixtures on Fondren Road, beginning with an August 20 matchup against Jacksonville University.
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