SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State student-athletes were honored this week as part of the athletics department's CATSPYs award ceremony at Strahan Arena.

Individual Bobcats were honored in four categories with male and female winners recognized, while a "Moment of the Year" was also selected. Individual awards were selected based on performances during the 2025 calendar year. 

Moment of the Year – Men's and Women's Track & Field
Texas State men's and women's track & field swept all four Sun Belt team titles across the 2025 outdoor and 2026 indoor seasons, winning 17 individual championships and signaling a new era of dominance. The 2025 outdoor meet marked the first men's and women's sweep in school history, followed by a historic indoor sweep in 2026, highlighted by MVP and high-point performances from Ja'Shaun Lloyd and Abigail Parra. 

Rookie of the Year
Brad Jackson | Football
Jackson made an immediate impact at Texas State, excelling both on the field and in the classroom. As a redshirt freshman quarterback, he has already earned four Dean's List honors, two Stars of Excellence for 4.0 semester GPAs and a place on the Sun Belt Commissioner's List, reflecting elite academic consistency. On the field, he was the 2026 Armed Forces Bowl Game MVP, earned All–Sun Belt Third Team honors and picked up national recognition from the Davey O'Brien Award, Manning Award, and Phil Steele All-Sun Belt teams. His status as an Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award semifinalist and multiple weekly honors underscore the national impact of his rookie season. 

Brooklyn Escobar | Soccer
Freshman goalkeeper Escobar anchored a historic season for Texas State soccer. She started all 20 matches played and logged 1,604 minutes with a 1.12 goals-against average, allowing multiple goals only three times and holding Sun Belt opponents to one or fewer goals in all 12 league games. Escobar finished with a 10-3-6 record, six shutouts, 58 saves and a .744 save percentage, earning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors after back-to-back 1–0 shutouts. She then backstopped the team through the Sun Belt Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament, all while performing at a Dean's List academic level. 

Athlete of the Year
Aiden Hayes | Men's Track & Field
High jumper Hayes has put together back-to-back elite seasons for Texas State. A co-Team MVP and later captain, he captured both the 2025 Sun Belt Outdoor and 2026 Sun Belt Indoor high jump titles and was named the league's Men's Field Performer of the Year each season. Nationally, he tied for second at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships, finished seventh at the 2025 USATF Outdoors, and placed fourth at the 2026 USATF Indoors, earning multiple USTFCCCA All-America honors. Hayes also volunteers with the Harvey Miller Day of Service, pairing national-level performance with strong character and community impact. 

Aiyana Coleman | Softball
First baseman and power hitter Coleman led Texas State softball's offense during a championship run. She paced the team in every major offensive category, hitting .421 with 16 home runs and 44 walks, combining elite power with on-base consistency. Within the Sun Belt, she was named both Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and she earned Third Team All-Region honors nationally. Her presence in the middle of the lineup consistently changed games and set the tone for the Bobcats' offense, embodying the standard of a Women's Athlete of the Year. 

Bobcat of the Year
Lincoln Pare | Football
Running back Pare stands out for his impact on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. He earned All-Sun Belt Second Team recognition and appeared on watch lists for the Doak Walker Award, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, the Wuerffel Trophy, and the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team. Pare added DCTF All-Texas College Second Team, DCTF Midseason All-Texas First Team, and DCTF Preseason All-Texas Second Team honors. Off the field, he joined the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society and received additional recognition from Phil Steele and PFSN, reflecting his combination of performance, academics, and service. 

Lara Roberts | Women's Track & Field
Hammer thrower Roberts delivered world-class results while making a significant impact on her team and in the classroom. In 2025 she rewrote the Texas State record book three times, won the Sun Belt hammer title, finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and advanced to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where she placed 22nd. She was twice named Bobcat of the Meet, earned team MVP and Field Event Athlete of the Year honors, and received the Sun Belt Outdoor Track and Field Elite Award. A USTFCCCA First Team All-American who led the nation for much of the year, Roberts also holds Sun Belt and USTFCCCA academic honors and remains active in service through Harvey Miller Day of Service. 

Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Enzo Dakiche | Men's Golf
Dakiche has made the most of his time as a Bobcat, competing at a high level in men's golf while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA as a finance major since arriving at Texas State in 2024. He has earned repeated Dean's List and President's List honors, along with recognition on the Sun Belt Commissioner's List and Academic Honor Roll. 

Enzo describes his student-athlete experience as a "virtuous circle," where the discipline and resilience he builds on the course make him a better student, and his success in the classroom makes him a better golfer, allowing him to pour the same passion and work ethic into both. He takes great pride in representing Texas State in competition and in the classroom as he prepares for a professional golf career. 

His Fixed Income Analysis professor, Dr. Margot Quijano, writes: "The course is demanding and mathematically rigorous, yet Mr. Dakiche has consistently risen to the challenge… he is a very bright, respectful, and hardworking individual, and I strongly support his nomination for the Outstanding Scholar-Athlete award." 

Megan Kelnar | Softball
The softball catcher has excelled in one of the most demanding positions on the field while carrying a 3.79 GPA as an Exercise and Sports Science major on the Pre-Physical Therapy track. Over four years, she has stacked up multiple Dean's List honors, repeated Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athlete awards, three straight Sun Belt Commissioner's List selections, College Sports Communicators Academic All-Region recognition, and First-Team All-Sun Belt honors as a catcher. She has already been accepted into the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program at St. Augustine in Austin, reflecting the strength of her academic and professional trajectory. 

Megan has poured that same discipline into service and leadership, coordinating youth softball camps, volunteering at community events from food drives to Kinetic Kids programs, and mentoring younger teammates in how to balance heavy course loads with in-season travel and competition. She describes learning to "compartmentalize" games, emotions, and academics as the key to showing up fully for her team and her classes. 

Her head coach, Ricci Woodard, writes: "Megan plays one of the most physically and mentally demanding positions in the game… She handles this responsibility with remarkable poise, discipline, and consistency" and has "the kind of emotional intelligence, work ethic, and compassion you want representing your program." Clinical assistant professor Dr. Megan Haynes adds: "Megan is a leader in and out of the classroom… she is in what may be the hardest class of her undergraduate career, while she is also in season with softball, and she is handling it with grace, helping other students, and performing well." 

Emmett Shelton Award (Highest Team GPA)
Men's Emmett Shelton Award

• Men's Golf with a 3.45 GPA 

Women's Emmett Shelton Award

• Women's Tennis with a 3.80 GPA