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Eight `Runners Earn Academic All-District Honors

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The 2025 Academic All-District® teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. Cal State Bakersfield excitedly announces eight Roadrunner scholar-athletes who earned the distinction on Tuesday as part of the At-Large program.

The CSC At-Large program seeks to honor student-athletes from a wide range of sports while holding to one of the highest standards of competitive and academic success across all national recognitions. Institutions are able to nominate a maximum of six men and six women total from the list of sports. Of the sports on the At-Large list, Cal State Bakersfield sponsors wrestling, beach volleyball, and women's golf.

Men

Santino Sanchez and Chris Neal have earned Academic All-District honors, marking the third-straight year at least one CSUB wrestler has earned the nod. Sanchez, who hails from Whittier, Calif., is a back-to-back honoree and continues his role as Bakersfield's primary starter at 133 pounds. He has maintained a 3.60 cumulative GPA as a business administration major.

Neal was one of CSUB's most diverse tools this season, wrestling across three different weight classes as the team needed. The selfless student-athlete excels in the classroom as well, boasting a 3.72 GPA in his business finance studies.

Women

The `Runner women are represented by a pair of golfers and four CSUB beach volleyball student-athletes.

Junior golfer Sarah Mutai picked up her second Academic All-District nod after earning the honor in 2024. Mutai has been one of Bakersfield's top performers on the golf course each of her three seasons and is the program's all-time leading in career scoring. Mutai owns a 3.78 cumulative GPA as a kinesiology major.

Joining Mutai from the golf ranks is senior Nicole Whipple. The team captain, Whipple graduated from CSUB this spring with a degree in English while maintaining a 3.91 GPA.
 
From the `Runner beach volleyball team, Ella Erteltova returns as a repeat honoree while her partner, Vivi Kaelin, earned a nod as well. The duo who have paired exclusively together for the past two seasons own Bakersfield's career record for most victories and they have earned All-Big West honors in back-to-back years. Erteltova just walked across the stage at Commencement, earning her degree in kinesiology. Kaelin is a sophomore working on a business administrator major and has a 3.58 cumulative GPA.

Also representing CSUB Beach Volleyball on the Academic All-District list from beach volleyball are Ella Ensign and Bailey Combs. Another sophomore, Ensign has a 3.65 GPA as a kinesiology major and ranks third in career wins right behind her teammates. Combs was a graduate transfer to CSUB this year, who has a 3.87 GPA in her studies at CSUB. She hopes to become a doctor or physician's assist in the future.

Academic All-District and All-America

Nominated student-athletes must meet minimum athletic requirements, varying depending on the sport. Academically, candidates must maintain at least a 3.50 GPA, one of the highest benchmarks for national recognitions.

Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information about CSC Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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Players Mentioned

Ella Ensign

#13 Ella Ensign

5' 7"
Freshman
Vivi Kaelin

#14 Vivi Kaelin

5' 9"
Freshman
Ella Erteltova

#7 Ella Erteltova

5' 10"
Junior
Chris Neal

Chris Neal

174
5' 10"
Sophomore
Santino Sanchez

Santino Sanchez

133
5' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
Sarah Mutai

Sarah Mutai

5' 4"
Junior
Nicole Whipple

Nicole Whipple

5' 8"
Senior
Bailey Combs

#5 Bailey Combs

5' 9"
Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Ella Ensign

#13 Ella Ensign

5' 7"
Freshman
Vivi Kaelin

#14 Vivi Kaelin

5' 9"
Freshman
Ella Erteltova

#7 Ella Erteltova

5' 10"
Junior
Chris Neal

Chris Neal

5' 10"
Sophomore
174
Santino Sanchez

Santino Sanchez

5' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
133
Sarah Mutai

Sarah Mutai

5' 4"
Junior
Nicole Whipple

Nicole Whipple

5' 8"
Senior
Bailey Combs

#5 Bailey Combs

5' 9"
Graduate Student
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