Pullman, Wash. – For more than 80 years, Washington State University has recognized ten of the top seniors in each graduating class. This year, soccer's Elyse Bennett and baseball's A.J. Block garnered the award for athletics. The women and men selected represent the highest standards in specific aspects of the college experience, including academics, athletics, campus involvement, community service, and visual and performing arts.
 
From the early 1900's to the 1980's, Washington State University recognized the best five men and five women seniors. These students were called "The Big Five Men" and "The Big Five Women." The Student Alumni Ambassadors and the WSU Alumni Association have continued the tradition with the Top Ten Seniors award program.
 
Bennett, a junior athletically but a senior in the classroom, will graduate from WSU with a degree in biology in just over three years after arriving on campus for the spring semester of the 2016-17 academic year. Throughout her athletic career at WSU, Bennett has been a leader in one of the most successful periods in Cougar soccer history culminating in the team's first trip to the College Cup this past fall in 2019. She has battled through multiple injuries to succeed on the field including returning from a second ACL recovery this season to start 23 of 24 games while posting a career-best five goals and five assists. Bennett is also a two-time Academic All-Pac-12 honoree with her sights set on continuing her education in graduate school in the pursuit of a masters in physician assistant studies. She maintains one year of eligibility on the field for the Cougars.
 
Despite a senior season cut short, Block was still able to excel both on the mound and in the classroom. As a pitcher, Block had a scorching hot start to his senior campaign as he became the first Coug in the last 33 years to record three-straight starts with 10+ strikeouts. Overall, he finished the shortened season leading all Pac-12 pitchers in innings pitched (27.2) while finishing second in strikeouts (34). As a computer science major, he maintained a 3.62 GPA which has garnered him back-to-back First Team Pac-12 Conference All-Academic awards. Putting his computer skills to work, Block has been part of the Ardu Mission Planner Project to create 3D mapping software to track flight paths, helping to revolutionize the outdated 2D system currently used.