SEATTLE – Two of them were known for their defensive prowess on the soccer field, One broke a long-standing school volleyball record. One poured in the points and racked up the rebounds.
 
All of them shined in the classroom.
 
For all of their athletic and academic accomplishments, Julia DeVere, Luke Postma, Symone Tran, and Coleman Wooten were honored with Falcon Awards for Excellence during Seattle Pacific's year-ending athletic awards banquet on Wednesday evening in Upper Gwinn Commons.
 
The Award for Excellence is the highest honor an SPU student-athlete can receive. Athletes must have lettered at least two years, be on schedule to graduate, have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher, and must have fulfilled a leadership role and have had a positive impact on those around them, both in and out of the locker room.
 
 

Last fall, women's soccer star DeVere was voted second-team All-American, first-team All-West Region, and was named the Defender of the Year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. While defending was her primary role, she also knew her way around the offensive end of the field, scoring four goals and assisting on seven others as the Falcons returned to the NCAA Tournament. Her academic accolades included NCAA Scholar All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-American and, for the third year in a row, GNAC All-Academic.
 
 

Defense also was the name of Postma's game on the men's soccer field. In 66 career games with 46 starts, he was part of 15 shutouts. During his freshman year, Postma helped SPU post a national-leading 0.45 goals-against average. Along with what he accomplished on the field, he earned three GNAC All-Academic awards.
 
 

Tran played in – and started – 110 of a possible 111 matches. During her four-year career, the star setter earned 4,049 assists. That broke the old program record of 4,009 that had stood since 2006. Tran also came up with 1,240 digs, and recorded 61 assist / dig double-doubles. She was a three-time All-GNAC honorable mention selection, and picked up three GNAC All-Academic awards.
 
 

Wooten got the job done at both ends of the basketball court. He was just the ninth player in SPU history to top 1,000 points and 600 rebounds, finishing his career with 1,213 on the scoreboard and 691 off the backboard. This past winter, he helped Seattle Pacific win the GNAC Tournament title and advance to the NCAA West Regional semifinals on the way to first-team all-conference recognition. He also was a three-time GNAC All-Academic.
 
DeVere and Postma were named as winners of the C. Clifford McCrath 101 Club Scholar-Athlete Award. That is presented to the man and woman with the highest four-year GPAs. DeVere has a 3.92 as a double-major in psychology and Spanish. Postma has a 3.98 GPA, majoring in accounting and business administration.
 
 

Volleyball player Katie Mansfield was presented with the John Glancy Award, recognizing her on- and off-court contributions.

 

A total of 29 four-year blankets were presented. In addition blankets were given to head gymnastics coach Laurel Tindall, who is retiring after 44 years at the helm and 46 years with the program, and to athletic trainer Erin Rutledge, who served Falcon athletes for 12 years.
 
The Ron Grady Athlete of the Year Award, which normally is presented at the banquet, will be announced in June after the conclusion of the NCAA Track & Field Championships and the NCAA Rowing Championships.