ODESSA, Texas (June 23, 2025) – Thanks to the generosity and support of Edgardo Madrid & Associates, The University of Texas Permian Basin Athletics Department has announced Will Tate (Men's Golf) and Keri Sanford (Softball) as the 2024-25 Edgardo Madrid & Associates Student-Athletes of the Year.

Sponsored by Edgardo Madrid & Associates, UTPB Athletics recognized one male and one female student-athlete during each month of the 2024-25 academic year as Student-Athletes of the Month. At the conclusion of the 2024-25 athletics season, one male and one female student-athlete were selected as UTPB's Student-Athletes of the Year.

Will Tate – 2024-25 Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Year
Tate, a junior from Reading, England, had been named an Edgardo Madrid & Associates Student-Athlete of the Month three times this year (October, March, April). Tate was named Second-Team All-Lone Star Conference for his performance during the 2024-25 regular season, and then earned a spot on the LSC All-Tournament Team after tying for fifth place at the 2025 Lone Star Conference Championship at the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club. Including the NCAA Regional Tournament, Tate played in 11 tournaments spanning 32 rounds and had a 72.47 scoring average, a 72.0 adjusted scoring average, and a 217.10 three-round average. He played 16 rounds of even-par or under-par golf with a low round of 65 at the Midwestern State Invitational. He had one tournament win, two top-three finishes, four top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes and seven top-20 finishes. Tate is ranked No. 90 in NCAA Division II and No. 16 in the South Central Region.

Tate had a top-20 finish in each of the first three tournaments of the year, including a runner-up finish for which he was named the LSC Men's Golfer of the Week after leading the UTPB men's team to the RJGA South Central Shootout team championship. In the first tournament of the season in The Writz at Mile High (Sept. 9-10), Tate shot 75-78-74 (227) and finished in 16th place. In the very next tournament, Tate shot 70-72-72 (214) and was even-par during each of the final two rounds of the tournament to tie for second place and lead UTPB to a win at the RJGA South Central Shootout (Sept. 30-Oct. 1). Just one week after leading the Falcons to what was their third tournament win in program history and subsequently being named both the LSC Men's Golfer of the Week and the Edgardo Madrid & Associates October Men's Student-Athlete of the Month, Tate started the next tournament with a minus-two and shot 68-69-72 (209) to tie for 20th at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational (Oct. 7-8).

Then in the Spring season, Tate was named a 2024-25 LSC Golfer to Watch before leading the Falcons in a tie for fourth place, going one-over par during round one and shooting 73-75 (148) overall at the Shadow Valley Invitational (Mar. 3-4). Tate then shot 79-72-76 (227) and was plus-two during round two to tie for 19th place at the Oak Tree Invitational (Mar. 17-18).  The highlight of the season came as Tate claimed the first individual win of his career at the Midwestern State Invitational (Mar. 24-25) while UTPB put together its third top-five team finish of the season. Tate shot six-under-par during the opening round and led the tournament by four strokes, and kept up his great pace with a minus-one during round two to lead the tournament by six strokes. After shooting under-par during each of the first two rounds, Tate finished at 65-70-72 (207) and was plus-one during the final round, but still won the tournament by five strokes and beat six golfers who are ranked in top-10 of their respective division. Tate jumped into the top-five of two categories in the UTPB record book following his win. His single-round score of 65 during round one ranks as the fifth-lowest in program history while his three-round score of 207 is tied for fifth. Tate is also the third-ever UTPB golfer to win a tournament. After winning the Midwestern State Invitational, Tate was named both the Lone Star Conference Men's Golfer of the Week and the Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month for the second time during the 2024-25 season. In the final tournament of the regular season at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic (Apr. 7-8), Tate shot 71-68-71 (210), was four-under-par during round two and was one-under during each of the first and third rounds to finish at minus-six overall and finish tied for 10th place. In addition to finishing at six-under for the second tournament in a row, his 68 during round two was his second under-70 round in the last two tournaments.

Tate finished the regular-season being named Second-Team All-Lone Star Conference and then tied for fifth place at the Lone Star Conference Championship (Apr. 14-15) to earn a spot on the LSC All-Tournament Team. Tate shot 76-70-71 (217) to finish at one-under-par during the final round, three-under over the course of the final two rounds, and plus-one for the tournament overall. With another top-five finish at the LSC Championship under his belt, Tate is now second all-time with four top-five finishes in his career at UTPB, all coming this season at the RJGA South Central Shootout (2nd place), the Shadow Valley Invitational (4th place), the Midwestern State Invitational (1st place) and the LSC Championship (5th place). He was selected to compete in the NCAA Regional Tournament as an individual and was subsequently named the Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month for the third time during the 2024-25 season.

Tate saved his best for last at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Championship (May 8-10), shooting one-under during the third and final round to wrap up the tournament at three-under and finish in a nine-player tie for 38th place at the Victoria Club in Riverside, California. Tate shot 71-71-71 (213) to finish at three-under-par and become the first Falcon to shoot under-par during all three rounds at the regional championship. Tate also finished tied for first among the eight individuals playing in the field at regionals.

UTPB's Head Golf Coach Paul Chavez spoke on Tate's 2024-25 season and said, "Will had an incredible year. He was very consistent throughout the year, had many top-5 finishes and had one win at the Midwestern State Invitational. Placing top-five at the conference tournament established him as one of the top players in the country, and then him being able to qualify for regionals on top of that really set him apart and solidified the awesome year that he had."

Keri Sanford – 2024-25 Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Year
Sanford, a junior from Georgetown, Texas, had been named an Edgardo Madrid & Associates Student-Athlete of the Month two times this year (February, April). She was named Third-Team All-Lone Star Conference for the 2025 season after starting in all 52 of her games played (51 at shortstop; 1 in left field), making the second-most starts on the team, and hitting in the leadoff spot in the Falcons' lineup in 50 games. Sanford led the Falcons with a .371 batting average and also led in at bats (167), runs scored (31), hits (62), triples (5), total bases (77), slugging percentage (.461), on-base percentage (.413), and stolen bases (11-for-11). She had a 10-game hitting streak to open the season, had 19-multi hit games, posted three four-hit performances, and scored at least two runs in a game nine times. In the Lone Star Conference, Sanford ranked eighth in triples, 16th in hits, 17th in at bats, 20th in stolen bases and 25th in batting average.

Sanford was named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month for February after hitting .452 while also leading the team in runs scored (18), hits (28) and triples (3) during the first month of the season. She had 10 multi-hit games during the month, including two 4-for-4 efforts. She also had six games in which she scored at least two runs, including five runs in one game (Feb. 11 at Southwest). Sanford ranked in the top-10 in the Lone Star Conference in batting average, hits and triples during the opening month of the season. During UTPB's opening-day sweep of Schreiner University (Jan. 31), Sanford finished game one 2-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs scored and was 3-for-4 with two runs scored in game two, making her a combined 5-for-8 with four runs scored and three RBI's from the top spot in the lineup during Opening Day. During the four opening-weekend games, Sanford hit .615 (8-13) and led the team in hits (8), runs scored (8), total bases (10) and stolen bases (3-3). Sanford also finished 4-for-4 with five runs scored and hit her fist-career home run with a three-run home run to left field in a 16-5 game-one win at the University of the Southwest (Feb. 11). Sanford would again go 4-for-4 with two triples and two runs scored in a game against Texas Woman's University (Feb. 16) during the opening weekend of LSC action.

Sanford was named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month for April after starting at shortstop in all 16 games during the month and hitting leadoff in all 16 games. During the final month of the season, Sanford hit .362 while leading the UTPB softball team in runs scored (7), hits (17) and total bases (19). She also helped the Falcons earn three of their four conference wins this season during the month of April. During those wins, Sanford was a combined 5-for-8 during UTPB's home sweep over Sul Ross State University (Apr. 6), and was later 3-for-7 with three runs scored during the final series of the season against Western New Mexico University (Apr. 27) in which the Falcons won game one 11-9. Sanford scored twice in the game-one win against the Mustangs, including stealing home for the first run of the game in the first inning.