PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State's baseball's Owen Leonard and tennis' Melisa Ates have been named the Academic Services Student-Athletes of the Month for February 2020.

A senior pitcher from Seattle, Leonard begins his second and final season as a Coug after transferring to WSU from Everett Community College in 2018 to pursue a degree in Kinesiology. Despite being on campus for just over a year, Leonard has been highly active off the field as a member of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as acting as a Peer Academic Counselor. He was awarded the Pac-12 Leadership Award and has been active in Butch's Bash, Coug Pals, Dining with the Dean as well as Athletes in Action. On the field, Leonard made 15 appearances out of the bullpen for WSU as a junior striking out 19 in 19 innings pitched. He would help lead the Cougs to their first win of the year in 2019 throwing the final 2.2 innings and striking out six while allowing just one hit in WSU's shutout of Santa Clara.

A native of Antalya, Turkey, Ates enters her final semester at WSU where she will graduate with a degree in computer science and a minor in math this May. Despite the rigors of class and competition, Ates has used the rest of her time volunteer with Circles of Caring helping to provide companion care to adults living with dementia and chronic illness on the Palouse. Additionally, she has been active in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as participating in the annual Dining with the Deans and Butch's Bash. On the court, Ates has been a team leader and one of the top singles players finishing her junior season an impressive 21-6 overall. Earlier this year she captured both the single and doubles titles at the 2019 Redbird Invite at the Bloomington Tennis Center during the Cougs' fall tournament play.

Each month Washington State Academic Services will honor a male and female student-athlete that demonstrates commitment to academics while participating in their sport.