BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Aria Hawkins and Drew Zielinski were recognized from Lee University as the Gulf South Conference unveiled its 2025-26 Top Ten Award recipients. This year's selections represent eight member institutions and eight different sports. Eight of the ten selections are first time honorees.
 
The award recognizes the top female and top male student-athletes for their athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements, during the 2025-26 academic year. The one student-athlete from each group of honorees will 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.
 
Aria Hawkins, a senior on the women's track and field team, is the tenth straight Lady Flame to be recognized. Lee has had a female athlete every year since joining the GSC except for the 2015-16 season. The other track and field selection from Lee was Celine Ritter. She was twice named to the top ten and twice was the GSC Commissioner Trophy Winner in 2020-21 and 2021-22,
 
Hawkins is Lee's newest NCAA DII Individual Champion as she won the 3000-meter race at the NCAA DII Indoor Championship in March. She was the GSC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and the GSC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Hawkins was also named the Most Outstanding Overall Performer and Most Outstanding Track Performer of the 2026 GSC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships where she claimed individual championships in the 1500-meter run, 5000-meter run and 10000-meter run. She was the Most Outstanding Track Performer at the GSC Indoor Championships. She competed in multiple events including the 800, mile, 3000, and 5000. She placed first in all four of her events. 
 
Last year, Hawkins was a College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and a two-time GSC All-Academic member. She was also a USTFCCCA All-American for cross country in 2024. She was the NCAA South Region Champion and GSC Individual Champion in both 2023 and 2024.
 
Head Coach Caleb Morgan is proud of not just what Hawkins as accomplished but who she is as a person. "The national titles and awards are easy to point to, but Aria's greatest strength has always been who she is as a person. She leads our team, invests in our community, and elevates everyone around her. She's the kind of athlete every coach hopes to have and the kind of person every program hopes to be built around."
 
Drew Zielinski is the second golfer for Lee to be named to the top ten. Beck Burnette was the GSC Commissioner Trophy Winner in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Zielinski was last year's NCAA DII Individual Runner up at the national championship. He was the GSC Medalist at this year's GSC Championship. He was the first Lee golfer to win the GSC Medalist at the GSC Championship. He is also the third golfer for the Flames to be named the GSC Golfer of the Year. Beck Burnette was the golfer of the year in 2022 and 2023 and Oliver Lewis-Perkins earned it in 2024. He finished in second place at the NCAA DII South Regional this year and helped lead the Flames to their sixth straight NCAA National Tournament appearance which is the longest streak in the nation. 
 
Zielinski played in 20 rounds during the regular season. He had a stroke average of 71.05. He won the Golfweek Fripp Island tournament which allowed him to be the first NCAA DII golfer ever to qualify for a PGA Tour event through a DII collegiate tournament. He competed at the 2025 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Last year in his first season at Lee he was a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District member and on the GSC Honor Roll.
 
Head Coach Evan Spence is proud of the recognition for Zielinski. "The GSC Top Ten list is such a big deal in our conference and any team we can have representation on that list we're obviously very honored and proud. Drew is no exception. He's somebody who has represented himself, our golf program, our university, and our conference extremely well at every turn throughout his career here and he is wholly deserving of this recognition. On the golf course, he's someone who is an extremely diligent worker, tenacious in the face of adversity, and capable of leveling up his performance in the biggest moments. It's been a privilege to have him as a part of our program for the last couple years, and I can't wait to see what he's going to accomplish in the next phase of his golfing career as well."
 
Athletic Director John Maupin is excited for Hawkins and Zielinski. "I am so excited about this recognition for Aria and Drew.  The GSC Top Ten recognition is the highest honor for a student athlete in our conference, and I can't think of two more deserving people. Aria and Drew exemplify everything we could hope to see in a Lee University student-athlete. From the way they carry themselves, to the kind of teammates they are, to the dedication they put into their schoolwork and respective sports they are truly difference makers. We look forward to celebrating this achievement with them at the GSC Meetings!"
 
Lee University has had an athlete every year since 2015 earn a top ten recognition. Lee has had seven Commissioner trophy winners. Since the Flames have been a part of the GSC, Lee has had the most winners. The University of North Alabama, the University of West Georgia, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and the University of West Florida each have had three winners. 

This year's group featured AUM's Chloe Baynes (softball) and UAH's Lili Wilken (women's basketball) who are returning for a second consecutive year. 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).
 
It was originally top eight award from 1996 until 2004 then it became top ten. All time, UWF has nine winners, Valdosta State University has eight winners, UNA has eight winners, and Delta State University has five winners.
 
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.

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.