SPRINGFIELD -- On a night when swimming and diving dominated the individual awards, the Missouri State University softball team took home the  top honor at the 17th annual Bears Choice Awards, Monday (April 27) at Great Southern Bank Arena.
 
Coach Kasey Griffith's squad was the top point collector in the Bear Cup team competition for community service, academic excellence, athletic excellence, Bears supporting Bears, and personal development. It is the sixth time -- and second year in a row -- Bears softball has earned the Bear Cup.

The sports of STUNT and acrobatics & tumbling were also finalists for this year's Bear Cup honors. 
 
A number of individual student-athletes were also recognized for their excellence as part of the year-end celebration of Bears Athletics. Members of Missouri State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) served as the presenters for the evening, which included a red-carpet entry and awards ceremony. SAAC members also took the lead in the nomination, selection and voting processes for the event and the awards presented.
 
The event also included a tribute to the 2,138 hours of volunteer and community service efforts by MSU's student-athletes during the 2025-26 academic year. The total economic impact of MSU's efforts is estimated to be over $50,000 to the Springfield community.

Beach volleyball's Amanda Cleary (Barrington, Ill.) became the first player from her sport to be awarded the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award, while men's swimming standout Alex Boutin (Allen Texas) was selected as the recipient of the Bill Rowe Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Boutin is the fifth swimmer to win the coveted Rowe Award.
 
The Senior Student-Athletes of the Year were men's swimmer Lucas Chadwell (Springfield, Mo.) and Amanda Cleary (Barrington, Ill.) from beach volleyball. The pair also delivered the evening's senior speeches.

The 2025-26 Junior Student-Athlete of the Year awards went to men's swimmer Anderson Brown (Kyle, Texas) and women's basketball sensation Kaemyn Bekemeier (Republic, Mo.). Sophomore Student-Athlete of the Year awards went to swimmer Mate Miszlai (Budapest, Hungary) and women's basketball player Lainie Douglas (Overland Park, Kan.), while this year's Freshman Student-Athlete of the Year honors were given to NCAA swimming national qualifier Kiefer Roemer (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Hannah Gardner (Springfield, Mo.) from volleyball. Douglas was named female freshman of the year last year.

This recently-added category of Graduate Student-Athletes of the Year were presented to senior athletes who have already earned their undergraduate degrees with prolific goal scorer Fumiya Shiraishi (Tokyo, Japan) from men's soccer and counterpart Julia Kristensen (St. Charles, Mo.) of women's soccer taking the honors. 

The Maroon and White Scholar-Athletes of the Year were awarded to baseball standout Bobby Atkinson, who holds a 3.96 grade point average, and female recipient Maggie Haase from women's track and field who holds a perfect 4.00 GPA. 

The individual sport most valuable players also were named, as voted on by head coaches. The men's team MVPs were awarded to: baseball's Logan Fyffe (Springfield, Ohio), football's Shomari Lawrence (Pompano Beach, Fla.), swimming and diving's Kiefer Roemer (Bettendorf, Iowa), basketball's Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.), golfer Christian Rischer (Columbia, Mo.) and soccer's Adrian Esteban (Madrid, Spain). It marked Osei-Bonsu's second straight MVP award for men's basketball.

Women's team MVPs were awarded to: beach volleyball's Mackenzie Steele (Nashville, Tenn.) and Cleary, tennis standout Billur Gonlusen (Adana, Turkey), basketball's Kaemyn Bekemeier (Republic, Mo.), volleyball's Brooke Eslinger (Cleveland, Tenn.), STUNT's Tylee Parrish (Vinita, Okla.), swimming and diving's Makenzie Kurre (Savannah, Mo.), soccer's Jane Hansen (Overland Park, Kan.), golf's Kiser Pannier (Sedalia, Mo.), acrobatics and tumbling's Anna Warring (Houston, Texas), cross country's Tabi Fox (Edmond, Okla.), track's Olivia Rogers (Dearborn, Mo.) and softball's Riley Baber (Overland Park, Kan.). Rogers' accolades marked her third straight track and field MVP.

Now in its 10th year in the award rotation, the Heart of the Bear Award was established to recognize the department's two most inspirational, hard-working student-athletes for their determination on and off the field of play. The honor has since expanded exponentially to include 18 honorees this year, including: beach volleyball's Taylor Germann (Ashland, Mo.), tennis' Lola Federski (Braunschweig, Germany), baseball's Carter Bergman (Kansas City, Kan.), women's basketball's Angel Scott (Edmond, Okla.), volleyball's Kya Johnson (Springfield, Mo.), football's Stewart McDonald (Rogersville, Mo.), STUNT's Riley Ray (Springfield, Mo.), men's swimming and diving's Chris Bedsole (Huntsville, Ala.), women's swimming and diving's Ainsley Jenkins (Little Rock, Ark.), women's soccer's Ella Becker (St. Louis, Mo.), women's golf's Kiser Pannier (Sedalia, Mo.), men's basketball's Logan Epes (Garland, Texas), men's golf's Owen Swearingen (Nevada, Mo.), acrobatics and tumbling's Mia McBride (Oak Park, Ill.), cross country's Addysen Clark (Normal, Ill.), track and field's Maggie Haase (Eads, Colo.), men's soccer's Hugo Jinkinson (Leicester, England) and softball's Kayla Ulrich (Sullivan, Mo.).

Baseball earned the Athletic Excellence Award and Men's Team of the Year, while women's basketball won the Women's Team of the Year. Beach volleyball was presented with the Academic Excellence Award for the second year in a row. Softball won the Community Service Award for the third time in four years, the Bears Supporting Bears honor was given to STUNT, and the Personal Development Award was presented to acrobatics and tumbling.  
 
Swimming and diving's Dave Collins was named Coach of the Year for the second time in three years, golfer Andrew Fallis (Columbia, Mo.) was presented with the Bears Unite Award, and Dan Raines from the Academic Achievement Center was voted Staff Member of the Year for the second time.