CLEVELAND – The Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) has announced the regional winners for 2024-25 Scholar-Athletes of the Year awards, with Roberts Wesleyan women's track and field star Brynn King and Molloy baseball standout Sean Welsh sweeping the East Region accolades. Each of the winners advance to the national ballot for consideration for the 2024-25 Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
King (The Woodlands, TX) and Welsh (East Meadow, NY) were previously selected the East Coast Conference's 2024-25 Scholar-Athletes of the Year back in June.
“I am proud of Brynn and Sean for being selected as the regional winners for the 2024-25 Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, as voted on by the D2 CCA," said ECC Commissioner Jessica Grasso. "Their commitment to academic achievement and athletic performance sets the standard for what it means to lead, inspire, and achieve as an ECC student-athlete."
The epitome of an ECC student-athlete, the unanimous ECC Outdoor Track & Field Female Athlete of the Year King held a 4.0 GPA in RWU’s strategic leadership graduate program in 2024-25. She represented the conference at the highest stage this spring, becoming the NCAA National Champion in the pole vault with a mark of 4.52m (14’ 10”). King enjoyed an undefeated season with four wins in four opportunities, including a historic performance at the 97th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in which she broke the all-time NCAA outdoor record in the pole vault 4.75m (15’ 7”). King, who represented the United States of America last summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is now a four-time NCAA Division II champion (two indoor, two outdoor) and is the only woman in Division II history to surpass 15 feet in the pole vault. King repeated as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II East Region Women's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year and received the Rich Funke Jr./Jerry Flynn Local College Athlete of the Year Award from the Rochester Press-Radio Club on June 10.
This July, King signed a four-year professional contract with adidas that runs through the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. While she will no longer be competing for Roberts, King will remain with the Redhawks as a graduate assistant coach who will help in a variety of areas.
A junior finance major carrying a 3.91 GPA in 2024-25, Welsh earned American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-American Third Team accolades, becoming one of just three designated hitters in the nation to earn All-American laurels. The All-ECC First Team designated hitter topped the conference with 15 home runs and 62 RBI, both single-season program records for Molloy, and helped lead the Lions to the 2025 ECC Regular Season Championship and their fourth ECC Championship tournament title in the last five years. Welsh provided blistering speed out of the top the order, totaling a league-leading 73 runs and 29 stolen bases to go along with a .338 batting average and 72 hits en route to National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA), and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team honors.
Conference offices were permitted to submit one male and one female nominee for the overall awards. Upon receipt of all nominees, voting was conducted by the commissioners within each of the following regions – Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, Southeast, South Central and West – to select the following regional winners.
Men’s Regional Winners
Jack Browder • Carson-Newman • SAC • Basketball • Business Administration • 4.00
Cedric Buessing • Indianapolis • GLVC • Swimming & Diving • Business Administration and
Management • 3.88
Jake Dugger • Harding • GAC • Football • Information Systems • 3.72 / (4.0 grad)
Brayden Long • Slippery Rock • PSAC • Football • Sport Management • 4.00
Brevin McCool • Lubbock Christian • LSC • Baseball • Biology • 4.00
Tommy Murr • Alabama Huntsville • GSC • Basketball • Business Management • 3.67
Laurenz Waldbauer • Northwest Nazarene • GNAC • Track & Field • Global Business • 4.00
Sean Welsh • Molloy • ECC • Baseball • Finance • 3.91
Women’s Regional Winners
Katie (Wagner) DeGarmo • Fort Hays State • MIAA • Basketball • Business Administration • 4.00
Grace Foster • Lubbock Christian • LSC • Basketball • Criminal Justice • 4.00
Anna Igims • Slippery Rock • PSAC • Cross Country/Track & Field • School Wellness Education • 3.98
Brynn King • Roberts Wesleyan • ECC • Track & Field • Strategic Leadership • 3.90
Mary Kelly Mulcahy • Findlay • GMAC • Golf • Business Administration • 4.00
Madison Murr • Cal State • San Marcos • CCAA • Golf • Environmental Studies • 3.96
Ashleigh Simes • Lee • GSC • Tennis • Business Administration • 3.62
Avery Williams • Columbus State • PBC • Soccer • Biology • 4.00
Initiated in 1992 to promote its member conferences and institutions, D2 CCA has made its mark in providing a united front for NCAA Division II athletics. Created after the break-up of the College Division Commissioners Association, the D2 CCA continues to create lines of communication and opportunities for its member conferences. The D2 CCA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 61 st year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.