MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) has announced its Fall 2025 recipients of the NACC FAR Award.
The award was developed by the NACC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs) in order to recognize outstanding achievements and commitment in three essential areas - academic performance, contribution to athletics, and service to the campus community. Additionally, it recognizes the perseverance and determination demonstrated in the pursuit of success in those endeavors.
The honor builds upon the existing NACC academic awards program, which includes the NACC Scholar-Athlete Awards and the G. Steven Larson Student-Athletes of the Year. The latter award is selected by the NACC's senior woman administrators, while the former is determined by grade-point average alone.
Each NACC institution is allowed to nominate two individuals per semester. Those nominees are then taken under consideration by a subcommittee of the conference's FARs, which determines the winners.
A total of 10 individuals will be recognized each academic year with five honorees representing fall sports being announced during the spring, with a further five honorees representing winter and spring sports slated to be announced upon the completion of the academic year.
The five recipients for the Fall 2025 semester are:
- Max Crawford, Aurora University, men's soccer
- Kaitlin Borchert, Edgewood University, women's volleyball
- Evelyn Taylor, Edgewood University, women's tennis
- Adrian Manchado, Milwaukee School of Engineering, men's soccer
- Faith Papazoglou, Milwaukee School of Engineering, women's soccer
Other NACC student-athletes nominated for the Fall 2025 NACC FAR Award include:
- Jordan Davis-Troller, Lakeland University, men's soccer
- Emily Gordillo, Marian University, women's soccer
- Brianna Guelig, Marian University, women's soccer
- Kaden Finnestad, Rockford University, football
Max Crawford
Institution: Aurora University
Sport: Men's Soccer
Hometown: Mattawan, Mich.
Major (Minor): Elementary Education (Music)
Crawford, a junior defender, has appeared in 39 games (33 starts) over three seasons for the Aurora University men's soccer program. After recording one assist in each of his first two seasons, he registered eight points on two goals and four assists in 2025 while leading the Spartans to a 13-4-3 overall record and a 10-1-1 mark in the NACC.
Crawford earned second-team All-NACC honors as a freshman in 2023 and received honorable mention from the coaches this past fall. He was also named a team captain in 2025 for an Aurora program that won the 2023 NACC title and has appeared in the NACC Tournament final each of the past two years.
A three-year member of Aurora's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Crawford currently serves as the organization's president. He is also a campus captain for The Hidden Opponent, which raises awareness of mental health challenges among student-athletes, and has volunteered at various times with Feed My Starving Children and the Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry. Crawford has also spent time coaching and mentoring youth soccer players through the Campton United Soccer Club and Illinois Skills Schools, as well as personal training sessions during the summer months.
Crawford's leadership activities have extended to the Aurora campus community at-large, serving the student body as a Student Government Senator in order to create positive change and improve the university experience for all students. He is also a New Student Mentor and is actively involved in the AU Music and Theater Department, which allows him to engage creatively with peers and strengthen the community through performance.
As a result of his work in the classroom, Crawford - an elementary education major with a music minor - has been named to the Aurora University Dean's List three times (all with high honors), is a two-time NACC Scholar-Athlete and AU Spartan Scholar, and was named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators in 2025.
Kaitlin Borchert
Institution: Edgewood University
Sport: Women's Volleyball
Hometown: Lake Mills, Wis.
Majors: Elementary Education
Borchert, a senior outside hitter, ended her Edgewood career as a two-time first-team all-NACC selection while helping lead the Eagles to a NACC regular-season titles, NACC Tournament crowns, and berths in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships in each of her final three seasons. In her final season, she was named NACC Player of the Year, earned NACC Tournament MVP honors, and picked up first-team all-region and honorable mention all-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
Borchert concluded her career with 1,066 career kills - an average of 2.36 per set - while also recording 684 digs, 226 blocks (33 solo), 47 service aces, and 44 assists. In her final season alone, she posted a NACC-high 384 kills (3.52 kps) with a .239 attack percentage, 310 digs, 68 blocks (10 solo), and 26 service aces.
Throughout her Edgewood career, Borchert has carved out time to serve as a volunteer coach at numerous volleyball camps - demonstrating technique, assisting in drills, and offerning encouragement and feedback to campers. She has also worked with CSC Event Services at various athletic events hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
As an elementary education major, Borchert has also leaned on her practicum experiences. In an effort to deepen her skills and knowledge in the field, she has volunteered on multiple occasions in a kindergarten classroom within the Waterloo (Wis.) School District - engaging with individual students and small groups in an effort to further their education in a manner best suited to them.
She was a three-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection and is on track to earn a fourth NACC Scholar-Athlete honor this summer.
Evelyn Taylor
Institution: Edgewood University
Sport: Women's Tennis
Hometown: Aurora, Ill.
Majors: Environmental Science, Biology
A three-time all-NACC selection in both singles and doubles and the 2024 NACC Player of the Year, Taylor ranks as one of Edgewood's top players historically in terms of victories. Through the Eagles' last Spring Break match on March 19, Taylor has accumulated 60 career singles victories, leaving her in reach of Anna Miles' school record of 64 with a handful of nonconference matches plus the NACC Tournament at the end of the month remaining. She also currently has 65 doubles victories. During the 2024-25 academic year, Taylor led Edgewood to its 12th NACC title, its sixth NACC Tournament crown, and a berth in the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship.
Taylor's efforts in the classroom earned her three NACC Scholar-Athlete honors - with a likely fourth honor to follow this summer - as well as College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors during the 2023-24 academic year.
Taylor has demonstrated a strong track record of volunteering, both in her hometown of Aurora, Illinois, and at Edgewood. Through her church, she spent time volunteering as a group leader at her church's Vacation Bible School, assisted with the children's choir and the congregation's annual garage sale, and participated in service projectes with Feed My Starving Childrena and the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Taylor also volunteered time to help her school's nascent boys' tennis program, which included many players who were just picking up the sport. From that experience, she ended up coaching at her home facility.
While at Edgewood, she has given her time to a number of fundraising events ranging from working UW Badgers football or basketball games to putting up windscreens at local tennis clubs. All the while, Taylor proved to be an engaged and conscientious leader committed to helping others develop and communicate ideas.
Adrian Manchado
Institution: Milwaukee School of Engineering
Sport: Men's Soccer
Hometown: Cubas de la Sagra, Madrid, Spain
Major: Computer Science (UG); Machine Learning (G)
Manchado, a senior defender on the MSOE men's soccer team, earned first-team all-conference and first-team United Soccer Coaches all-region honors this past season after helping lead the Raiders to a second-consecutive NACC Tournament title and NCAA Championship berth. After starting just 15 of 35 games in his first two seasons at MSOE, he started all 23 games last season, registering 19 points on eight goals and three assists. Manchado also recorded the game-winning goal in a win over Wisconsin Lutheran in early October. He was also a member of MSOE's 2023 squad that share the NACC regular-season title.
Academically, Manchado is a two-time NACC Scholar-Athlete and has been named to the Dean's List with High Honors seven times. He was also named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team and was a Second-Team Scholar All-American from United Soccer Coaches.
Manchado - who is also pursuing a master's degree in machine learning concurrent to his bachelor's degree - has been been active on campus while at MSOE, participating in panels sharing perspectives on college success, serving as a mentor to the AI Club, and organizing study tables for both the men's soccer team and the larger campus community.
Manchado is also actively committed to developing technology to improve the lives of people around him. One such project involved building an AI system that used camera footage to track soccer players and gather quantitative insights to aid in coaching and ddvelopment. The significance and scope of that project led to Manchado and his project team being selected as a top-three finalist for MSOE's Rosie Supercomputer Super Challenge.
He also serves as secretary for MSOE's chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honors society, and participated in MSOE's Hacksgiving: AI For Good events, developing AI solutions for regional non-profit organizations. Additionally, Manchado was selected as an MSOE University Innovation Fellow to pursue improvement projects, leveraging technical expertise within his discipline. He also had a paper published and twice placed in the top five at the Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium.
Faith Papazoglou
Institution: Milwaukee School of Engineering
Sport: Women's Soccer
Hometown: Commack, N.Y.
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Papazoglou, a senior midfielder/forward, has appeared in 57 career games, starting 32, accumulating 45 points on 16 goals and 13 assists. She also has five career game-winning goals. As a senior this past fall, Papazoglou started all 21 games, recording 16 points on six goals and four assists. She converted a penalty kick as part of a five-point game (2G, A) against Edgewood during the regular season, then scored the game-winning goal in MSOE's NACC Tournament semifinal win over the Eagles.
Papazoglou earned first-team All-NACC honors last season and received honorable mention from the coaches the year prior and has been a mainstay for a Raiders program that has appeared in the past two NACC Tournament finals. She was also named third-team all-region by United Soccer Coaches.
Academically, Papazoglou was a 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection and is on track to be a four-time NACC Scholar-Athlete. She has also been a member of MSOE's Dean's List with High Honors. Papazoglou is a member of MSOE's Honor Program and was inducted into the Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB) biomedical engineering honor soceity as a junior, currently serving as secretary of MSOE's chapter. Through AEMB, she has organized weekly drop-in study sessions for underclassmen.
Outside of the classroom, Papazoglou served as a mentor and coach at Elmbrook United's recreational clinics, assisted with game management for games played by Cedarburg High School at MSOE's Viets Field, and participated in a game benefitting the Milwaukee Public Schools Mitten Tree Drive. She also helped organize donations for Habitat for Humanity through Milwaukee's Mix Church and volunteered as a patient services representative at a local hospital, directing patients throughout the facility and advising patients how to use an online patient portal.