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 two WINNERS of the prestigious Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Awards. These honors are not given out every year or given to a certain number of student-athletes, but rather are intended to go to those whose careers at Biola stood out above the rest. The recipients of this award are those whose cumulative accomplishments at Biola are on par with those who land in the Biola Athletics Hall of Fame. It's meant to honor those who made a clear impact on their teams, within the conference and even at a national level.

Please see the two 2020 recipients below:

Madyson Brown - A fast and fierce competitor who wanted to use her success on the soccer pitch as a platform to glorify God, Madyson Brown had an exemplary four and a half years at Biola. Brown stepped into a starting role at center back as a freshman in 2015 and was part of one of the most successful stretches in program history for Biola Women's Soccer, all while completing Biola's nursing program and earning several academic honors. The Eagles went 48-14-9 over the four years Brown competed and had at least 11 shutouts in all four of those seasons, an accomplishment BUWS had never achieved before Head Coach Erin Brunelle took over the program before Brown's freshman year. Biola also qualified for two NAIA tournaments, advancing to the final site in 2015 when Brown was named to the NAIA All-American first team. The team recorded a program-best 17 wins and an NCCAA National Championship in 2017, the first of two years Brown served as a team captain. 
 
Brown was an all-conference selection all four of her soccer seasons, earned two NAIA All-American recognitions, an NCAA Division II all-region selection and was named to two United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region Teams. She was named the GSAC's Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, went to Philadelphia in 2017 to receive her NCCAA National Player of the Year award and won PacWest Defender of the Year honors this past season in a landslide vote from the conference's coaches. Brown played every minute of 68 matches over Biola career and as a result holds the records for minutes played (6,981) and matches started (77) among all male and female players in the history of Biola soccer.

Thank you for your contributions over a tremendous career, Mady.

Gabe Plendcio - The accomplishments really do speak for themselves when you consider Gabe Plendcio's splendid four-year career at Biola. The Southern California native earned all-conference honors in each of his seasons, building to end his career as the top distance runner in the PacWest Conference and one of the top handful of distance runners in the NCAA Division II West Region. Plendcio was instrumental in building Biola Men's Cross Country into a powerhouse. His team finished third in conference each of his first two seasons before he led them to back-to-back PacWest Conference Championships in 2018 and 2019. Plendcio won the individual PacWest Conference crown in each of those victorious seasons. He is also a two-time individual NCCAA National Champion. During Biola's transition to NCAA Division II, his sophomore and junior campaigns, Plendcio led Biola to a pair of NCCAA national titles at races in Mississippi and Missouri.

This past season, in the first year Biola was eligible to compete, Plendcio helped his team qualify for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, making them the first Biola team to make a Division II National Championship field. Plendcio helped the Eagles finish sixth in the west region and he was the fourth-place individual to earn all-region honors. Then, he and the team managed a 25th-place finish at nationals to cement their spot as a team in the top-25 rankings. Plendcio racked up the hardware, both athletically and academically, throughout his time at Biola including 13 Runner of the Week honors (PacWest, NCCAA). He also earned Academic All-PacWest, D2ADA Academic Achievement honors and USTFCCCA All-Academic awards. Plendcio ran a 23:59 at the 2018 Santa Clara Bronco Invite to set a program record for best 8k time. His stellar career saw him claim four of the top-5 all-time runs in program history.

Plendcio was just beginning his senior track & field season when everything was called off due to COVID-19. He had a hot start to the year, earning his collegiate-best time in the 3,000m (8:27.57) with a second-place finish at the Beach Opener. Overall, his track & field career was just as stellar as the cross country accomplishments. He earned all-conference honors in each of his three complete years, finishing as high as second place in the 5k at the league championships (15:05.03 - 2019). In 2018, he earned two NCCAA All-American honors by finishing top-3 in the 5k and 4x800m relay. Plendcio is a Spring 2020 graduate with his Bachelor of Arts in History (secondary education). His leadership, outstanding ability and heart for the Lord will most certainly be missed.

Thank you, Gabe!

Past Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award Winners:
Dakari Archer (2017)
Austin Bishop (2019)
Joclyn Kirton (2017)
Lisa Tixier (2018)
DeMoria White (2018)

Head on over to our @BiolaAthletics Instagram account to leave some love for these two.

Our annual award winners will be announced beginning next week (Mon. April 27). On Monday, we plan to announce the 2020 recipient of the Female Newcomer of the Year Award.

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 - Michael Bagatourian, Larson Kindreich, Jake Munivez, Gabe Plendcio & Gabe Weber
Fri. April 24 - Winners Announced - Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Awards - Madyson Brown, Gabe Plendcio
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