LA MIRADA, Calif. --- After the PacWest announced that Biola led its conference peers in Academic All-PacWest recognitions last week, the Conference Office gave the Eagles two additional scholastic awards on Monday. 

Nursing major Jake Munivez was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year among the PacWest's men's soccer programs while back-to-back PWC Champion Gabe Plendcio was named the Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The two men are the first Biola Eagles to earn PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition and received the award for having the most impressive combination of athletic and academic accomplishments among the student-athletes in their sport during the past school year. 

Munivez carried a 4.0 GPA during the 2019-20 academic year and was one of two men's soccer student-athletes in the conference to be selected to a CoSIDA Academic All-District team. He garnered All-PacWest second team honors after starting all 18 matches and helping the Eagles to six clean sheets in 2019. And he was named to Biola Dean's List on May 4 in addition to earning a nomination for Biola Athletics Male-Student Athlete of the Year alongside Plendcio. 

Plendcio would win the Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award in addition to Biola's 2019-20 Male Student-Athlete of the Year recognition this past April. He finished his history degree with a 3.65 cumulative GPA and will begin a graduate program in Biola's School of Education this fall after he was also recognized with CoSIDA Academic All-District honors on June 1. 

He also has Academic All-Pacwest, D2ADA Academic Achievement awards and USTFCCCA All-Academic honors to his name on top of the incredible success he had at cross country championships. Plendcio helped the Eagles to two-straight PacWest Championship with his back-to-back individual titles and earned All-West Region recognition after finishing fourth at the NCAA DII West Region Championships in Oregon. 

As a result of these honors, both men are also nominated for Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year across the entire conference alongside the winners from five other sports. The results of the voting for PacWest Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be released later this week or early next week.