Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State's Stan Bates Award Winner
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July 15, 1999
The Western Athletic Conference established the Stan Bates Award in 1981 in honor of former WAC commissioner Stan Bates. This award is given annually to the conference's top male and female senior scholar-athlete based on an individual's athletic and academic accomplishments and carries $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.
In 1998, Fresno State had its first ever Stan Bates award winner -- male or female -- in former Bulldog women's soccer standout Christina Bell.
In the classroom, Bell graduated cum laude from Fresno State with a degree in psychology in May 1998. A four-time WAC Scholar-Athlete and Fresno State Scholar-Athlete, Bell earned Deans List status four semesters and was named WAC All-Academic in 1997. Bell served on the Fresno State student-athlete advisory board.
On the field, Bell started every match for the Bulldogs in her two year career. Finishing as the program's second-leading all-time scorer in school history, she also finished second all-time in goals scored and assists. Bell, a two-time team captain and MVP, became the first Bulldog to garner first team All-WAC honors (1996, 1997).