SEATTLE – She took a long, sometimes painful journey to the top of her very specialized track and field craft. But she got there.
 
He was the epitome of steady reliability on the soccer field, contributing not only goals and assists, but also delivering what any coach in any sport wants most from their senior leaders: He played like a senior leader.
 
On Thursday night, Brittany Aanstad and Tyler Schultz were recognized for their accomplishments when they were named co-winners of the Ron Grady Athlete of the Year Award during Seattle Pacific's annual athletic awards banquet at Upper Gwinn Commons.
 
It marked the first time since 2005 that the award has gone to more than one athlete. Schultz was the first men's soccer player to win it since 1994, when it went to former U.S. national team goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.
 
Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS) capped her SPU career last Saturday in Pueblo, Colo, when she threw the javelin 168 feet, 1 inch, to win the NCAA Division II championship. That distance, achieved on her next-to-last attempt and in windy conditions, beat her previous career best of 161-11, a mark which made her the top seed coming into the meet. It also broke the 25-year-old school record of 167-2 set in 1987 by Anita Sartin, and bettered the 1-year-old Great Northwest Athletic Conference mark of 163-6.
 
That capped Aanstad's steady journey to the top of the national heap. As a freshman in 2008, she qualified for NCAAs with the fourth-longest throw in the country, but had injured her elbow while winning the GNAC title a couple weeks prior to nationals. Aanstad eventually had major elbow surgery and was sidelined for the entire 2009 season. After not making nationals in 2010, she was back in 2011, going in as the top seed before eventually having to settle for second.
 
Also a talented high jumper, Aanstad helped the Falcons win their third straight GNAC outdoor team title on May 11-12, and has contributed to Seattle Pacific's string of conference indoor team titles that now has reached nine in a row. She is now a two-time All-American in the javelin, and also earned All-GNAC and All-West Region honors this spring.

"It has been a long road for me,” Aanstad said. “It also has been a lot of growth for me, and I'm so thankful to SPU for helping me to grow up and take some responsibility. Without SPU, I wouldn't have had the success that I've had.”
 
In what by far was his best season in Seattle Pacific maroon, Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) did much more than just earn individual accolades. His play helped the Falcons get back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. SPU went all the way to the West Regional championship game on its home field at Interbay Stadium, having earned the right to host the tourney by virtue of being the top-ranked team in the region.
 
Schultz tallied a career-high 16 goals last fall, the highest single-season output by an SPU player since 1993. Of those, eight went for game-winners. He wound up with 38 goals for his career, putting him into the program's all-time top 10, and had 15 game-winners, which ranks in the top five.
 
His work didn't go un-noticed. Schultz was named the GNAC's co-Player of the Year, and was the Daktronics West Region Player of the Year. Then, when all the votes were in, he had earned first-team All-American status, both from the National Soccer Coaches Association and from Daktronics. Schultz also made the grade in class with GNAC All-Academic, CoSIDA Academic All-District, and CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.

“I couldn't have done this without my family and everyone here – I owe you everything,” Schultz said. “SPU has helped shape me.”
 
Also presented on Thursday night were the annual Falcon Awards for Excellence to graduating seniors who were deemed by SPU's coaches to have the right blend of athletic talent, academic success and leadership skills. A total of 10 were nominated, and from that group, six winners emerged: Schultz, volleyball players Paige Hoffman and Lindsey Wodrich, women's soccer player Kelsey Jenkins, distance runner Natty Plunkett, and rower Katy Stine.
 
Soccer player Drew Williams and gymnast Aditi Kulkarni were given the C. Clifford McCrath 101 Club Award as the graduating seniors with the highest cumulative grade-point averages. Williams carries a 3.54 as a psychology major; Kulkarni has a 3.97 in accounting.
 
A total 29 were recognized as scholar-athletes for maintaining a quarterly GPA of 3.50 or higher for three consecutive quarters dating back to spring 2011. And, 32 seniors received four-year letter blankets. A blanket also was presented to retiring school president Dr. Philip Eaton.
 
Also earning a share of the spotlight were SPU's district, regional and All-American academic honorees, and winners of various special awards from the GNAC.