The Howard Payne University athletic department today announced Kelsey Bunch and David Berzins as the 2020-2021 HPU Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award winners.

The Outstanding Scholar-Athlete award is, in reality, the most prestigious recognition HPU athletics offers. HPU speaks of its athletes as student-athletes, meaning that the emphasis is on academic endeavors. The purpose of this award is to recognize the student-athlete, male and female, junior or senior, with the highest cumulative GPA.

Both Kelsey Bunch and David Berzins were recognized at the Howard Payne University Academic Convocation on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, held in HPU’s Mims Auditorium.

Kelsey Bunch, a junior accounting major from San Angelo, Texas, has played in 29 soccer games in three seasons for the Lady Jackets. Bunch has scored two goals and dished out two assists. Kelsey is a member of Chi Alpha Omega and works as a part-time administrative assistant for University Services. She will be an Academic All-Conference selection at the end of the year. This year, she was named the Outstanding Student in Accounting in the Howard Payne School of Business.

David Berzins, a senior business finance major from Houston, Texas, has played in 22 baseball games in two seasons for the Yellow Jackets and has recorded ten hits, two doubles, one home run, two stolen bases, and two RBI. He will be a two-time Academic All-Conference selection at the end of the year and is a member of Delta Chi Rho and a Sigma Beta Delta International Business Honor Society member. This year she was named the Outstanding Student in Finance in the Howard Payne School of Business.