BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference announced the recipients for the 2026 Top Ten Award presented by Caldwell Architects. This year’s selections represent eight member institutions and eight different sports. Several new faces comprised the featured honorees as eight of the ten selections are first time recipients.

Returning for a second consecutive year is AUM’s Chloe Baynes (softball) and UAH’s Lili Wilken (women’s basketball). They are joined by AUM’s Giuseppe Bonaiuti (men’s tennis), Delta State’s Cole Kirk (football), Lee’s Aria Hawkins (women’s cross country/track & field) and Drew Zielinski (men’s golf), Mississippi College’s Lauren Wallace (women’s cross country/track & field), Montevallo’s Derek Moore (men’s basketball), Trevecca Nazarene’s Skias Hainline (volleyball), and West Florida’s Cooper Tendick (men’s golf).

TOP TEN AWARD HISTORY

The award recognizes the top female and top male student-athletes for their athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements, during the 2025-26 academic year. One men’s and women’s sport student-athlete will be also be awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy, which is the conference’s most prestigious individual honor and will be announced in-person at the GSC Awards Ceremony.

The GSC Top Ten Award recipients are selected with the assistance of an advisory committee representing Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators (SWA), Athletic Communication Directors, Faculty Athletic Representatives, and Presidents from randomly selected GSC schools, which makes a recommendation to the Commissioner, who has the final decision.

For more information about each Top Ten recipient, click here. 

Honorees will be celebrated Thursday, May 28 in Pensacola, Fla., as part of the 2026 GSC Awards and Hall of Fame Ceremony presented by Caldwell Architects. The evening will be streamed at no charge, on the conference's YouTube channel.