KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Fort Hays State track and field student-athlete Jessica Saunders was named one of two MIAA A-Game Scholar Athletes for the 2025 women's outdoor track and field season, announced by the conference office on Sunday (May 4). Saunders shares this year's honor with Abby Kinney of Missouri Western, both holding a perfect 4.0 GPA with 116 credit hours passed at both of their institutions. Saunders is an Accounting major at Fort Hays State.
 
Among all of the MIAA student-athletes competing at the MIAA Outdoor Championships, Saunders and Kinney matched each other for having the highest cumulative GPA, therefore they share the honor as the sport's "A Game" Scholar-Athletes for 2025. Saunders and Kinney are the first student-athletes to share a championship's "A Game" Scholar-Athlete honor in the award's young history.
 
Established by the MIAA in 2022, the Mammoth "A Game" Scholar Athlete Award acknowledges the overall excellence of a student-athlete by recognizing one individual who has contributed to their team's success, while also achieving the highest academic standard among peers. The student-athlete honored with the "A Game" Scholar Athlete Award must be an active member on a qualifying team and must have a minimum of two-terms completed at the institution.
 
A native of Hillsboro, Kansas, Saunders has been one of the top throwers on the FHSU women's track and field squad, primarily in the discus. Earlier this spring, she produced the longest throw of her career with a 150-foot, 11-inch mark at the Central Nebraska Challenge in Kearney. It was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, which put her among the top 40 on the national performance list. Back in 2024, she won the Emporia State Midwest Classic and she has 10 top-five placements in meets throughout her career in the discus.
 
Impressively, Saunders has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her four years at FHSU after being a two-sport athlete her first three years. She was a member of the volleyball team from 2021 through 2023 and then opted to serve as a student coach for the volleyball team in the fall of 2024.
 
Kinney of Missouri Western is a senior distance runner from Waukee, Iowa. She entered the MIAA Outdoor Championship with the third-best 10,000-meter run time in the conference (37:59.45).