CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana – Recent Wabash College graduate Justin Santiago ’25 and rising seniors Sean Bledsoe ’26 and Xavier Tyler ’26 were named 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars by Diverse Issues in 亚洲通er Education magazine.

All three were first-team selections, boosting the total to 13 Wabash student-athletes to be named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar since 2018.

Santiago, a native of 亚洲通stfield, Indiana, is a four-year letterwinner for the Wabash cross country and track and field teams. In his time with the programs, he helped the Little Giants win six conference championships (1 CC/5 TR). His collegiate best times include a 25:39.0 8,000-meter cross country effort at the 2023 NCAA DIII Great Lakes Region Championships to go with a 33:45.86 outdoor 10,000-meter run as a junior.

The financial economics major was active in the campus community as part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as a production volunteer at his church. A Dean’s List honoree, Santiago was a summa cum laude graduate and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He served as an innovation consultant for Wabash College’s Center for Innovation, Business and Entrepreneurship and has a project management certification from the University of Adelaide.

Bledsoe, a native of Columbia City, Indiana, is a three-year letterwinner for the Wabash golf team, posting a 75.44 scoring average in 66 career rounds played. He was the runner-up at the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships, earning all-conference honors. He has seven rounds at par or better with a low of 69.

The English major is well connected on campus, serving as an advocate for ‘shOUT, the gay/straight alliance, working as a manager for the basketball team, and handling color commentator duties for the basketball livestreams. A Dean's List honoree, Bledsoe also was named to the NCAC Academic Honor Roll.

Tyler, a native of Evansville, Indiana, is a three-year letterwinner and a second-team all-NCAC honoree for the football team after leading the Little Giants with more than 1,000 yards rushing in 2024. His accomplishments included a career-best 199 yards on Nov. 9, 2024, at Wittenberg, as well as a long rush of 81 yards, tied for the eighth-longest in school history, set Oct. 21, 2023 at Kenyon.

The philosophy major has held multiple positions of leadership within his fraternity, Delta Tau Delta. He is the community service committee chairman for the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, has worked at a group home for people with severe mental and physical disabilities, and speaks regularly at inner-city middle schools to kids about attending college and how to positively carry themselves. Tyler is a Dean’s List honoree and has earned all-NCAC Academic Honor Roll accolades.

The trio joined Mawuli Nevis ’25 as Ashe honorees, as he was named the 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Wrestling Sports Scholar of the Year. A biology major from Cincinnati, he was a semifinalist for the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year award. Nevis is the second Wabash student-athlete to earn national distinction from the publication in the last three years.

Since 1992, Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars have demonstrated stellar athletic ability and academic performance (3.5 cumulative GPA or higher), in addition to a commitment to community service and student leadership. The award is inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr.'s dedication to education as well as his love for the game of tennis.