LA MIRADA, Calif. --- As part of the COVID-19 closures, Biola Athletics had to cancel its 2020 EDDIES awards and year-end student-athlete banquet. Since we were unable to announce our awards and celebrate student-athletes at the banquet, we will take the next two weeks to do so online and over social media.

We continue the process today by announcing the five finalists for the 2020 Female Student-Athlete of the Year award. The winner will be announced next week on Wednesday via our @BiolaAthletics social media accounts.

Please see the five 2020 nominees below:

Madyson Brown - Center back Madyson Brown had another stellar season with Biola Women's Soccer in 2019 and was given several prestigious awards including PacWest Defender of the Year, United Soccer Coaches All-West Region selection and Scholar All-West Region recognition. Brown and the Eagles had the best defense in the PacWest with just 12 goals allowed and a total of 11 shutouts. They went 770 minutes without allowing a goal from September 12 to October 19 while Brown picked up two assists during that stretch. The nursing program-graduate led the team with six shots and four on-goal against Chaminade on October 31 and played all but two minutes of the season to end her career holding several records for Biola soccer. After playing all 97 minutes against Fresno Pacific on November 16, Brown has more career minutes (6,981) and has started more matches (77) than any other woman or man to put on a Biola soccer uniform.

Colbeyshae Emery - Colbeyshae Emery's success for at the Biola Tennis Center led to multiple looks into the women's tennis record book, even just 14 matches into her first collegiate tennis season. Emery went 12-2 at the No. 1 singles position for BLT to earn at No. 5 ranking in the West Region at the end of the year and set a new program record with 10-straight singles victories from February 7 to March 9. Her 12 singles victories are the most in a single year since Brie Meister went 18-4 in 2004 and Emery also teamed up with fellow freshman Brooke Fager to earn the No. 9 spot in the West Region for doubles teams. She helped Biola to back-to-back wins over PacWest opponents on February 28 and 29 and also earned 10 straight-set victories in her first two months with the Eagles. 

Mackenna Mason - Mackenna Mason put together another consistently excellent cross country season in 2019. The junior was the Eagles' no. 1 finisher in each and every race and led the team to its third-straight PacWest Conference podium finish and first appearance at an NCAA postseason event. She finished third at the conference meet to earn All-PacWest honors for the third consecutive year. A few weeks later she ran her best 6k of the season (21:24) to pick up All-Region honors with a 25th-place finish at the NCAA Division II West Region Championships. Mason nabbed USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and is a shoo-in to take home Academic All-PacWest and D2ADA Academic Achievement awards for the third year in a row. Mason appeared in one track meet before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was a good appearance, resulting in a fourth-place run in the 3,000m at the Beach Opener.

Jennifer Morinishi - Jennifer Morinishi was off to a historic start to the 2020 season when it was cut short due to COVID-19. She was the clear favorite for PacWest Conference Player of the Year, leading the league in hits (34), doubles (14) and batting average (.447). Her 14 doubles is just one off the Biola single-season NCAA-era record in that category. She still had 22 games left on the schedule where she would've easily set that record. Morinishi was also top-3 in the league in RBI and slugging percentage. Her contributions through the first 23 games of the season helped Biola to an 18-5 overall record and 13-3 PacWest record. The team was leading the conference and was just outside of the NCAA Division II Top-25 rankings. She split time between center field and the pitcher's circle where she picked up two wins and two saves.

Sami Penor - Sami Penor continued to flourish in her second year at Biola. She led Biola Women's Golf in scoring average with a 76.00 and recorded the most top-10 finishes of anyone on the team (4). She was top-10 in four of the five tournaments she competed in during the 19-20 season. She was responsible for five of the top-9 individual rounds of the season put up by Biola golfers, recording six of her 11 rounds at 75 strokes or fewer.

The winner will be announced via @BiolaAthletics on social media on Tuesday, April 28. Head on over to our @BiolaAthletics Instagram account to leave some love for these five finalists.

Tomorrow (Thur. April 23) we plan to announce the finalists for male student-athlete of the year. See the full schedule below.

Mon. April 20 - Finalists Announced - Female Newcomer of the Year - Grace Catena, Kellynn Hayes, Stephanie Lee, Liza Parahnevich & Raegan Tjepkema
Tue. April 21 - Finalists Announced - Male Newcomer of the Year - Jack Kilgallon, Alexei Prokopchuk, Chris Rossow, Ben Smith & Patrick Waggoner
Wed. April 22 - Finalists Announced - Female Student-Athlete of the Year - Madyson Brown, Colbeyshae Emery, Mackenna Mason, Jennifer Morinishi, Sami Penor
Thur. April 23 - Finalists Announced - Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Fri. April 24 - Winners Announced - Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Awards
Mon. April 27 - Winner Announced - Female Newcomer of the Year
Tue. April 28 - Winner Announced - Male Newcomer of the Year
Wed. April 29 - Winner Announced - Female Student-Athlete of the Year
Thur. April 30 - Winner Announced - Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Fri. May 1 - Winner Announced - Team Community Service Award