Charles Named GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings junior men’s soccer player, Sam Charles, added yet another award to his already illustrious career with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, the conference office announced Thursday.

“Sam is an outstanding student athlete,” said head coach Dan McNally.  “His quality on the soccer field is matched by his dedication and hard work in the classroom.  This is a very prestigious award for Sam and I am very proud of all the success he has achieved over the last 3 years.”

The awards are voted on by the league’s athletic directors.

Charles, a native of Chiswell, England, has a 3.6 cumulative grade point average in health and human performance at MSUB.  This season, Charles was one of a league-best seven Yellowjackets named to the GNAC Academic All-Star team and was a first team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine District 7.  He also garnered second team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

His accomplishments were just as impressive on the field as he finished the season tying his own school record with 19 goals and set the school record for points with 44.  As a junior, he owns the school record for career points with 101 which is 40 points higher than the next closest Yellowjacket. 

Not only did he excel in the school annals, he also was sixth nationally in points per game (2.44) and fifth nationally in goals per game (1.06).  He ranks second all-time in the GNAC in goals with 38 and is tied for the most hat tricks in the conference with three.

Charles helped lead MSUB to its second consecutive winning season and was named GNAC Player of the Week twice.  He was a first team all-league selection to go along with being named first team Daktronics all-region and honorable mention Daktronics all-America.  He is the first two-time Daktronics All-America selection in the GNAC.  Charles also was a first team NSCAA/adidas West Region selection in 2008.

Ashley Puga of Northwest Nazarene was named Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, while Central Washington’s Mike Reilley and Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific were male and female Athletes of the Year.  Charles became the second consecutive Yellowjacket to win GNAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, as former track and field standout Jarred Rensvold won the award last year.