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Penn State Schuylkill's Malak Mowafi and Andrew Sepp were named the 2025 John S. Egli Outstanding Student-Athletes. Pictured, from left and moving clockwise: Sepp takes a shot during warm-ups prior to a men's basketball game; Mowafi smiles in her cross country head shot; Sepp smiles during his basketball head shot; Mowafi looks to pass during the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball Championship game at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State Schuylkill's Malak Mowafi and Andrew Sepp were named the 2025 John S. Egli Outstanding Student-Athletes. Pictured, from left and moving clockwise: Sepp takes a shot during warm-ups prior to a men's basketball game; Mowafi smiles in her cross country head shot; Sepp smiles during his basketball head shot; Mowafi looks to pass during the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball Championship game at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State Schuylkill's Malak Mowafi and Andrew Sepp were named the 2025 John S. Egli Outstanding Student-Athletes. Pictured, from left and moving clockwise: Sepp takes a shot during warm-ups prior to a men's basketball game; Mowafi smiles in her cross country head shot; Sepp smiles during his basketball head shot; Mowafi looks to pass during the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball Championship game at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Posted: Apr 21, 2025

Mowafi, Sepp Garner John S. Egli Outstanding Student-Athlete Awards

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Each year, the John S. Egli Outstanding Student-Athlete Award recognizes two students from the Penn State University Athletic Conference for their outstanding achievements in the classroom, their community and in their sport. A male and female recipient are awarded in honor of John S. Egli who served as a student, athlete, faculty member and coach at Penn State. Egli was also the inaugural Coordinator of Athletics for the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference, the predecessor of the PSUAC.

The award garners nominations from around the Commonwealth as athletic directors and coaches share the stories of their incredible student-athletes. Like years past, 2025 produced exceptional nominees and two phenomenal selections as this year's recipients.

Penn State Schuylkill swept the award in 2025, with multi-sport student Malak Mowafi and men's basketball player Andrew Sepp earning recognition as the top student-athletes in the PSUAC. Both Sepp and Mowafi have also been named United States Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete's of the Year for their student, service and athletic records. The USCAA's Student-Athlete of the Year award is the organization's highest honor and is given to one student in each of their championship sports. 

Mowafi, a double major in Criminal Justice and Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations, has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA while participating in cross country, track and field, women's basketball and women's flag football. Mowafi has been a member of the 2022 PSUAC Cross Country Invitational Champions and finished in the top five in each of the three PSUAC postseason meets she has competed. Mowafi also was a guard on the 2025 PSUAC women's basketball runners-up from Schuylkill and is participating in the inaugural season of Schuylkill's women's flag football program. Mowafi also earned a silver medal in the steeplechase at the 2023 and 2024 USCAA Track and Field Championships.

"(Malak) is the definition of a model student-athlete-excelling academically, athletically, and as a leader both on and off the field," said Schuylkill athletic director Kayla Felty. "In every way, Malak embodies what the Egli Award should represent. She is a top-tier student, an elite athlete, a leader, and a person of the highest integrity."

Mowafi has also taken part in multiple international service trips, traveling to Portugal, Montreal and an upcoming trip to Romania to build housing for people in need. Mowafi has also excelled on campus, providing support to fellow students as a peer tutor and academic coach. In addition, Mawafi earned the Criminal Justice Research and Academic Awards in 2024 and was named the Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker award winner at Schuylkill in 2024.

Mowafi is also a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National Scholar-Athlete Honor Society and has earned the prestigious Evan Pugh Scholar Award at Penn State, along with the President Walker and President Sparks awards.

Sepp has been no less exceptional in his career, starting with his passion for serving the community. Sepp began working with the Special Olympics in his native New Jersey, as his dad has been a long-time volunteer with the organization. Sepp continued that work in Schuylkill County, helping coach basketball while in school and playing for Penn State Schuylkill. Sepp also led fundraising initiatives for both teams he's involved with, helping both Schuylkill and Special Olympics raise money to enhance their programs.

"Andrew understands that being an athlete is about more than just personal success," said Felty. "(He realizes) it is about lifting others up and leaving a lasting impact."

While Sepp has not been part of any championship squads, he helped lead his team to the program's peak in 2025 with a bid to the USCAA Men's Basketball Division II National Championship tournament. There, Sepp and his teammates pulled off two upsets as the no. 5 seed to advance to the National Championship game. Finishing as runners-up in the USCAA, the program set records along the way and established themselves as one of the top programs in the PSUAC and USCAA. Sepp finished his career with 628 points and started 80 games during his career.

Sepp is an Honors student and currently serves as a teaching assistant in three classes. Sepp has maintained a 3.94 GPA and was awarded "Best Research" at the Penn State Schuylkill Academic Poster Conference twice, and was also honored with the Penn State Schuylkill IT Award. Sepp's endeavors also included international travel, heading to Europe to promote collaboration in research and advancement of cybersecurity education.

Mowafi and Sepp each earned multiple PSUAC and USCAA Academic awards and both have been named John Fritz Sportsmanship Award recipients and will graduate in May 2025.

The Egli Award is nominated by members of a student-athlete's campus and voted on by the PSUAC's Tournament, Awards and Media Committee. Honorees are recognized by the PSUAC at their campus Student-Athlete Banquet, provide an acceptance speech and are have interviews released on PSUAC social media pages. Past recipients have also been invited to participate in on-field ceremonies at Beaver Stadium during Penn State's All-U Day celebration during a football game.

For more information, follow the PSUAC (@psuac) on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).