CONWAY, Ark. - In an announcement made today from conference headquarters, Hendrix College's Josie Leffingwell was named the 2026 SCAC Women's Tennis Elite 19 award winner.

Leffingwell, a senior from Stillwater, Okla., who currently holds a 3.88 GPA in Health Science with a minor in Psychology, earned Second Team All-SCAC honors this season as both a singles player and as a doubles player, along with her partner Caroline Lasley. Leffingwell finished the season with a 6-9 singles mark at No. 2 singles, and an 8-7 doubles mark, mostly at the No. 1 line, including an all-tournament nod at last month's SCAC Championships.

Hendrix College student-athletes swept both tennis Elite 19 awards as the Warriors' Santiago Perez won the award on the men's side.

Established prior to the 2018-19 academic year and meant to recognize the best of the best within each conference sponsored-sport as it relates to both academic and athletic achievement, the SCAC Elite 19 is awarded to the student-athlete who has completed the equivalent of at least 60 credit hours at his or her current institution and has at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA. The student-athlete must also have earned All-SCAC First or Second Team honors in his/her sport for that particular season.

The Elite 19 award marks the second prestigious honor that Leffingwell has received as she earned Hendrix College's President's Medal at the school's Honors Day Convocation on April 23. That honor is bestowed to a graduating senior who embodies the institution's highest ideals.