University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Johnson II, Zigler Earn Big Sky Scholar-Athlete of the Year Honors
7/29/2022 1:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field, Cross Country
FARMINGTON, Utah – The Big Sky Conference announced its 2021-22 Scholar-Athletes of the Year on Friday. Northern Colorado's Matt Johnson II and Alison Zigler earned the honor for the school.
Johnson II is a two-time All-Big Sky selection on the hardwood. He helped UNC to the Big Sky title game and CBI semifinals in 2021-22. The Aurora, Colorado native has already earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology and will return to Greeley next year for his final season.
Zigler competed in both cross country and track and field for Northern Colorado. She is one of the six honorees to hold a 4.0 GPA over her career. Zigler graduated from UNC with a degree in Sports and Exercise Science.
To be eligible for this award, the student-athlete must have exhausted his or her intercollegiate athletic eligibility and/or be a member of the graduating class, earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 (on a 4.0) scale, been a participant in a Big Sky-sponsored sport, completed at least two (2) years of intercollegiate competition at the institution, and been a letter winner.
2021-22 Big Sky Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Binghamton: Justin Lane, Men's Golf, Business Administration MBA Student (Woodstock, N.Y.)
Cal Poly: Dominic Stellini-Splan, Football, Ethnic Studies (Tracy, Calif.)
Eastern Washington: Maggie Nelson, Women's Track and Field, Master's in Physical Education (Spangle, Wash.)
Eastern Washington: Joe Gauthier, Men's Track and Field, Health and Physical Education (West Richland, Wash.)
Hartford: Jared Winiarz, Men's Golf, Marketing (Norton, Mass.)
Idaho: Avrie Fox, Women's Soccer, Medical Science (Vista, Calif.)
Idaho: Timothy "Timo" Dohm, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Chemistry (Placentia, Calif.)
Idaho State: Zak Montoya, Men's Track & Field, Athletic Administration (Rupert, Idaho)
Idaho State: Adriene Pavek, Women's Tennis, Biological Science/BMS (Pocatello, Idaho)
Montana: Taylor Stoeger, Soccer, Speech-Language Pathology (Green River, Wyo.)
Montana: Ed Pudney, Men's Tennis, Management Information Systems (Southend-on-Sea, England)
Montana State: Troy Andersen, Football, Ag Business (Dillon, Mont.)
Montana State: Celestia Hammond, Women's Track & Field, Chemical Engineering (Billings, Mont.)
Northern Arizona: Lauren Orndoff, Women's Basketball, Master's in Communication (Medford, Ore.)
Northern Arizona: Theo Quax, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Civil Engineering (Auckland, New Zealand)
Northern Colorado: Matt Johnson II, Men's Basketball, Psychology (Aurora, Colo.)
Northern Colorado: Alison Zigler, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field (Pewaukee, Wis.)
Portland State: Windy Huang, Women's Golf, Bachelor of Science Accounting/Master of Science Finance (Taipei, Taiwan)
Portland State: Tyson Pauling, Football, Bachelor of Science Psychology/Master of Science Education Leadership and Policy Masters (Victorville, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Shantel Nnaji, Women's Track & Field, Kinesiology (Tracy, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Evan Stork, Men's Track & Field, Kinesiology (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Southern Utah: Justin Miller, Football, Management (Highland, Utah)
Southern Utah: Darri Dotson, Women's Basketball, Mathematical Science (Panguitch, Utah)
UC Davis: Erron Duncan, Football, Education (Stockton, Calif.)
Weber State: Rylin Adams, Volleyball, Social Work (Lehi, Utah)
Weber State: Conner Mortensen, Football, Nursing (Overton, Nev.)
To stay up to date on all things UNC Athletics, visit UNCBears.com and follow the department on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Johnson II is a two-time All-Big Sky selection on the hardwood. He helped UNC to the Big Sky title game and CBI semifinals in 2021-22. The Aurora, Colorado native has already earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology and will return to Greeley next year for his final season.
Zigler competed in both cross country and track and field for Northern Colorado. She is one of the six honorees to hold a 4.0 GPA over her career. Zigler graduated from UNC with a degree in Sports and Exercise Science.
To be eligible for this award, the student-athlete must have exhausted his or her intercollegiate athletic eligibility and/or be a member of the graduating class, earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 (on a 4.0) scale, been a participant in a Big Sky-sponsored sport, completed at least two (2) years of intercollegiate competition at the institution, and been a letter winner.
2021-22 Big Sky Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Binghamton: Justin Lane, Men's Golf, Business Administration MBA Student (Woodstock, N.Y.)
Cal Poly: Dominic Stellini-Splan, Football, Ethnic Studies (Tracy, Calif.)
Eastern Washington: Maggie Nelson, Women's Track and Field, Master's in Physical Education (Spangle, Wash.)
Eastern Washington: Joe Gauthier, Men's Track and Field, Health and Physical Education (West Richland, Wash.)
Hartford: Jared Winiarz, Men's Golf, Marketing (Norton, Mass.)
Idaho: Avrie Fox, Women's Soccer, Medical Science (Vista, Calif.)
Idaho: Timothy "Timo" Dohm, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Chemistry (Placentia, Calif.)
Idaho State: Zak Montoya, Men's Track & Field, Athletic Administration (Rupert, Idaho)
Idaho State: Adriene Pavek, Women's Tennis, Biological Science/BMS (Pocatello, Idaho)
Montana: Taylor Stoeger, Soccer, Speech-Language Pathology (Green River, Wyo.)
Montana: Ed Pudney, Men's Tennis, Management Information Systems (Southend-on-Sea, England)
Montana State: Troy Andersen, Football, Ag Business (Dillon, Mont.)
Montana State: Celestia Hammond, Women's Track & Field, Chemical Engineering (Billings, Mont.)
Northern Arizona: Lauren Orndoff, Women's Basketball, Master's in Communication (Medford, Ore.)
Northern Arizona: Theo Quax, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field, Civil Engineering (Auckland, New Zealand)
Northern Colorado: Matt Johnson II, Men's Basketball, Psychology (Aurora, Colo.)
Northern Colorado: Alison Zigler, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field (Pewaukee, Wis.)
Portland State: Windy Huang, Women's Golf, Bachelor of Science Accounting/Master of Science Finance (Taipei, Taiwan)
Portland State: Tyson Pauling, Football, Bachelor of Science Psychology/Master of Science Education Leadership and Policy Masters (Victorville, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Shantel Nnaji, Women's Track & Field, Kinesiology (Tracy, Calif.)
Sacramento State: Evan Stork, Men's Track & Field, Kinesiology (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Southern Utah: Justin Miller, Football, Management (Highland, Utah)
Southern Utah: Darri Dotson, Women's Basketball, Mathematical Science (Panguitch, Utah)
UC Davis: Erron Duncan, Football, Education (Stockton, Calif.)
Weber State: Rylin Adams, Volleyball, Social Work (Lehi, Utah)
Weber State: Conner Mortensen, Football, Nursing (Overton, Nev.)
To stay up to date on all things UNC Athletics, visit UNCBears.com and follow the department on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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