IRVING, Texas – Commissioner Tim Pernetti has announced that Wichita State cross country standout Jackson Caldwell and Charlotte track and field All-American Riley Felts have been chosen as the 2023-24 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as chosen by the conference’s Academic Committee.
 
Caldwell, who was chosen as The American’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Felts, The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will each receive a $4,000 postgraduate financial scholarship.
 
Caldwell and Felts were chosen from a group of 23 individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year who received $2,000 postgraduate scholarships. The 23 Scholar-Athletes of the Year include 10 individuals who won individual conference titles or earned conference Player of the Year accolades during the 2023-24 season.
 
“I am proud to present the American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards to 23 of our outstanding student-athletes,” said Pernetti. “And I am especially pleased to recognize Jackson Caldwell and Riley Felts as our Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the best of the best. Jackson and Riley join an impressive list of champions and scholars who have won these awards and set the highest standard for all of our student-athletes.”
 
Caldwell, a native of Overland Park, Kansas, becomes the second consecutive Wichita State student-athlete to be named as The American’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year after former Shocker baseball standout Brock Rodden earned the honor in 2023. Caldwell earned all-conference honors at the 2023 American Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship, where he set the Shockers’ program record for an 8,000-meter race (23:31.7). He registered top-25 finishes in the 2022 and 2023 conference championships and helped Wichita State to a pair of runner-up finishes in the team standings (2021, 2022).
 
Caldwell holds a 3.99 grade-point average as an aerospace engineering major and earned a 4.00 semester GPA in five of his six terms. 
 
Felts, who hails from Matthews, North Carolina, becomes the first Charlotte student-athlete to be chosen as The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Felts was the runner-up in the pole vault in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championship meets as she registered the highest national individual finish in school history in any sport. She is a six-time conference champion who helped the 49ers to a sweep of the indoor and outdoor team titles in Charlotte’s first year in The American.
 
Felts earned a 4.00 grade-point average as an undergraduate and holds a 3.90 GPA in Charlotte’s postgraduate civil engineering program. She won the Charlotte Provost Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award as the 49ers’ top all-around student-athlete and was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team.
 
Selections for the 23 Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, as well as the Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, are made by the Academic Committee on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance. Each conference school may nominate one student-athlete per sport who has achieved senior academic standing as determined by the institution. A winner is chosen from each of the conference’s 21 sponsored sports in addition to at-large selections from sports not sponsored by the conference.  

 
2024 American Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jackson Caldwell, Wichita State (Cross Country)
 
2024 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Riley Felts, Charlotte (Track and Field)
 
2024 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Sport	Student-Athlete	School	Highlights
Baseball	Carter Cunningham	East Carolina	AAC Player of the Year; first team Academic All-America
Men’s Basketball	Max Fiedler	Rice	Third team Academic All-America; Rice’s career leader in rebounds and assists
Women’s Basketball	Dazia Lawrence	Charlotte	Two-time first team all-conference selection
Men’s Cross Country	Jackson Caldwell	Wichita State	Two top-25 finishes at AAC Championship; school record at 2023 championship
Women’s Cross Country	Lauren Johnston	Charlotte	Placed sixth at 2023 AAC Championship to earn all-conference honors
Football	Lucas Dean	UTSA	Four-time all-conference punter, including second-team All-AAC honors in 2023
Men’s Golf	Jake Peacock	South Florida	Individual medalist at 2024 AAC Championship and 2024 AAC Player of the Year
Women’s Golf	Melanie Green	South Florida	2024 AAC Player of the Year; four-time All-AAC; R&A Women’s Amateur Champion
Women’s Lacrosse	Belle Mastropietro	Temple	Three-time AAC Midfielder of the Year; four-time first team All-AAC selection
Women’s Rowing	Isabella Musollino	Tulsa	Two-time all-conference selection; coxswain of 2024 AAC champion varsity eight
Men’s Soccer	Ajmeer Spengler	South Florida	First team all-conference midfielder
Women’s Soccer	Mya Jones	Memphis	2023 AAC Offensive Player of the Year; four-time all-conference selection
Softball	Addison Barnard	Wichita State	First player in NCAA history with 90 HR and 60 SB; ranks fifth in NCAA career HR
Women’s Swimming and Diving	Imogen Meers	Rice	2024 AAC champion in 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke
Men’s Tennis	Alvin Tudorica	South Florida	All-conference selection in both singles and doubles in 2024
Women’s Tennis	Taylor Johnson	SMU	2024 AAC Player of the Year and two-time all-conference selection
Men’s Indoor Track and Field	Shaun Kerry	Rice	Honorable mention All-America in hammer throw at 2024 NCAA Championship
Women’s Indoor Track and Field	Riley Felts	Charlotte	NCAA runner-up in indoor and outdoor pole vault; two-time Academic All-America
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field	Sam Welsh	Rice	2024 AAC champion in the discus throw; won three career conference titles
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field	Chloe Hershenow	Tulsa	2024 AAC champion in the 5,000 and 10,000; three AAC titles in the 10,000
Women’s Volleyball	Kayley Cassaday	Tulsa	AVCA honorable mention All-America; first team Academic All-America
Men’s At-Large (Swimming and Diving)	Jack Hoagland	SMU	Earned All-America status in four events at 2024 NCAA Championship
Women’s At-Large (Fencing)	Diana Tiburcio	Temple	Career record of 102-60 in sabre; helped team to four straight conference titles