By Jed Flemming, Athletic Communications and Media Intern

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Cristhian Ospina of Wayland Baptist (Texas) has been named the 2017 Select Sport America-NAIA Men’s Soccer Coach of the year, the NAIA announced Thursday. This season, Ospina’s Pioneers took home the national championship with a win over No. 4 Missouri Valley by a score of 1-0 in double OT in Delray Beach, Fla. The announcement occurred Thursday at the United Soccer Coaches’ National Convention in Philadelphia.

Ospina finished his third season as the official head coach of the Pioneers after spending one season as the interim coach in 2014. Since Ospina’s tenure began, he has boasted an impressive 49-23-9 (.660) career record.

2017 was a record year for the Pioneers as Ospina led the team to a school-record 17-win season, posting a school-record .740 win percentage. Ospina also led the team to their first ever No. 1 overall ranking for Men’s Soccer.

Ospina also had the honor of leading two of his players to NAIA All-American honors. The first is Alex Castillo, who was elected All-America Third Team, and the second is James Quinn, who was an Honorable Mention. The Pioneers also had five United Soccer Coaches NAIA Men’s All-Southwest Region players. Castillo and Quinn were named First Team, while Ross Brown, Lochlan Reus, and James Westfield were all named Second Team. Six Pioneers were named to the All-Sooner Athletic Conference team, which included a Defensive Player of the Year award for Alex Castillo, and five first team elections.

This is Ospina’s first Coach of the Year award at the national level, however, he received the same recognition from the Sooner Athletic Conference the past two years. He was the first WBU Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year in the conference.

The 2017 Select Sport America-NAIA National Coach of the Year is voted on by the NAIA-Men’s Soccer Coaches Association and is announced at the annual National Convention. To be eligible, a head coach must be selected as their conference or unaffiliated group coach of the year or lead their team to the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship postseason play.

Also announced during the National Convention was the 2017 Champions of Character Select Sport America-NAIA Scholarship Recipient. The winner is Ramen Garcia of Marymount California. The recipient is determined by the Men’s Soccer National Championship Tournament Committee. The criteria take into consideration is a display of exemplary character and sportsmanship on the field, on campus, and in the community, surrounding the five core values of the Champions of Character program.