Aidan Crawford and Skylar Ciccolini have been named the 2026 recipients of the Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship, one of the NCAA's highest academic honors.
Crawford, a goalkeeper for Loyola Chicago's men's soccer team, will pursue his medical degree after spending one year as a clinical research coordinator in orthopedic sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Ciccolini, a javelin thrower at Missouri, is pursuing a doctorate in natural resource science and management, with a focus on tick-borne disease research.
Established in 1988, the Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship program annually awards $24,000 scholarships to one male and one female student-athlete. The scholarship, which may be renewed for a second year, honors those who combine excellence in academics and athletics and show potential as future leaders.
Aidan Crawford, Loyola Chicago men's soccer
A team captain for the 2024 postseason and 2025 season, Crawford has been a cornerstone of Loyola Chicago's men's soccer program. He earned Atlantic 10 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and first-team all-conference honors in 2023, along with an All-America Freshman Team selection from College Soccer News.
Academically, Crawford carries a perfect 4.00 GPA in molecular and cellular neuroscience with a minor in bioethics. He earned several academic-driven honors at Loyola Chicago, including making the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester and earning Academic All-District recognition from College Sports Communicators in 2024.
Off the field, Crawford's record of service is impressive in depth and scope. He was selected to captain the Allstate National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Good Works Team in fall 2025. The team recognizes 20 student-athletes each season across all divisions for their leadership, service and community impact. He founded Special Olympics LUC, the first Special Olympics student organization at Loyola Chicago. The organization holds weekly sports practices at Misericordia Home, a nearby residential community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Additionally, he has contributed more than 400 hours volunteering at the Endeavor Health Hospital's hospice and oncology unit; tutored Chicago-area refugee students through Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America; and participated in international mobile medical clinics in Guatemala and Peru. Crawford also represented the Loyola athletics department on a service trip to Guatemala focused on sport-based development for girls and young women from vulnerable backgrounds.
In his personal statement for the scholarship, Crawford highlighted how college sports have provided an environment that deepened his understanding of medical care. This included seeing his teammate navigate the recovery process of a severe leg injury, as well as Crawford's own management of the mental, social and emotional effects of injuries that kept him sidelined. Crawford noted that his upcoming experience working in orthopedic sports medicine in Boston will serve as an intentional transition from his collegiate athletic experiences into medical training and a career dedicated to patient care.
"The NCAA offers a unique platform that demands responsibility beyond myself, calling me to live a life in service to others," Crawford said of earning the Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship. "I'm grateful to Loyola Chicago for providing an environment where this commitment is continually supported and encouraged. I carry this responsibility forward into a career as a physician, where this service and accountability to others must guide my care."
Skylar Ciccolini, Missouri women's track and field
Ciccolini is one of the most decorated javelin throwers in Missouri history, earning first-team All-America honors in 2023 and 2024 and second-team All-America recognition in 2021. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials in both 2021 and 2024, reaching the finals in 2024. One of her goals is to qualify for the U.S. team for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Academically, Ciccolini graduated summa cum laude from Missouri's School of Natural Resources with a 3.99 GPA, earning the school's Outstanding Senior Award in 2023 and being named to the dean's list four consecutive years. She earned All-Academic status from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in 2023 and 2024, as well as being named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. In 2025, she graduated summa cum laude with a master's in fisheries and wildlife biology at Missouri.
In her community, Ciccolini has spent three years serving at Turning Point, a homeless day center. Recognizing the practical needs of the homeless population, she organized a shoe drive within the athletics department, collecting over 300 pairs of shoes for Turning Point residents over three years. She has held leadership roles as vice president and president of Athletes in Action and helped found Columbia for Christ, organizing a large worship night event on campus.
Additionally, Ciccolini has worked in her field as a teaching assistant for biology labs, a wetlands laboratory technician, a tick laboratory technician and an independent researcher collecting grassland snakes. Her doctoral dissertation at Missouri will focus on the tick-borne disease system, drawing on what will be 10 years of data to help inform health care decisions.
In her personal statement for the scholarship, Ciccolini highlighted how the setbacks and comebacks of a collegiate track career shaped her approach to both research and teaching. Injuries taught her compassion for teammates and a long-term focus that now inform how she approaches her doctoral work. She also credited college sports with making her comfortable being uncomfortable, a mindset she said has allowed her to meet the demands of graduate coursework, teaching and high-level competition simultaneously.
"As a student-athlete, I experienced firsthand what is needed to succeed, both academically and athletically; massive amounts of time, energy, a strong support system and the dedication to achieve your goal, no matter the setbacks," Ciccolini said of earning the scholarship. "I will take these and many other experiences into the rest of my doctoral program as I begin my time as a professional athlete."
