COLUMBUS – The W soccer teams have had a total of 11 individuals honored on the 2025 Academic All-District Soccer Team for their respective genders, including four who hail from the Golden Triangle. In all, six Owls’ men’s soccer players were recognized, as well as five from the women’s squad.
Cited from the men’s team were Ethan Barnes, Cole Crawford (New Hope), Preston Holmes (Caledonia), Kyle Morris, Drew Pack (New Hope), and Josh Wilcox (New Hope). The quintet of women’s players included Avery Bartlett, Emma Hall, Anna McKee, Abby Warchus, and Lucy Warner.
The 2025-26 Academic All-District Soccer Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA.
To earn Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing and hold a minimum 3.50 cumulative grade-point average. Additionally, each must appear in at least 90 percent – or start 66 percent – of their team’s games played.
All six of the men’s soccer honorees, as well as three of the women’s (McKee, Warchus, and Warner), are majoring in business at The W.
For the Owl men, Barnes, a senior midfielder, came to the Owls’ program after two seasons at Northwest Mississippi Community College and prepped at Hernando High School. Morris, a senior forward, played one season each at Itawamba C.C. and Christian Brothers University before joining The W in 2024 (leading the SLIAC in goals scored, with 12, in 2025).
The other four men’s soccer players to earn Academic All-District are all local products. The sophomore forward Holmes hails from Caledonia High School and spent 2024 at East Central C.C. The remaining trio of players have all spent their entire college careers with The W and came to the Owls by way of New Hope High School: junior defender Crawford, sophomore defender Wilcox, and sophomore forward Pack.
The three Owls’ women’s team members who are also business majors are junior defender McKee, junior midfielder Warchus, and junior defender Warner. McKee came to The W after two years at Hinds Community College and is a graduate of Brandon High School.
Warchus, in her third season with the MUW program, was also an Academic All-District selection in 2024-25 and played her high school career at Station Camp High School in Tennessee. Warner joined The W this season after two seasons at Hinds C.C. (2022 and 2023).
Bartlett, also a defender, is in her third year with the Owls, majoring in kinesiology. She is a graduate of Arlington High School in Tennessee.
Hall, another defender, was a transfer to MUW in 2025. She joined the Owls’ program after two years at Meridian C.C., graduating from Corinth High School before that. Hall is majoring in art at The W.
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