Postgraduate Scholarship Recognition – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. — Brandy Atuatasi, Zach Buckey, and Elise Evans are being honored by the ACC as 2026 ACC Postgraduate Scholars.

Atuatasi (Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field) and Buckey (Football) help comprise this year’s 33 2026 ACC Excellence Award winners. Evans (Women’s Soccer) is one of 32 2026 Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.

Atuatasi built a standout career as a thrower on the track & field team, earning 2024 USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and four Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections. As a junior in 2024, she advanced to the NCAA West Prelims in the discus and moved to No. 10 on Stanford’s all-time list with a personal-best 172-9 (52.67m) to win the Chris Rinne Invite. During her senior season in 2025, she won the discus at the Payton Jordan Invitational with a throw of 177-6 while competing unattached.

Pursuing her M.S. in Community Health and Prevention Research after completing her bachelor’s degree in Psychology last summer, Atuatasi has served in leadership roles around campus with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Social Events for Athletes, and the Pacific Islander Student Association. She is also a speaker and mentor with GameFaces and coordinates coursework for UAR-56.

Atuatasi currently works for the Patel Lab in Stanford’s Prevention Research Center, with goals to seve the Pasifika community through health promotion and disease prevention after graduation. 

Buckey was a five-year member of the football program who played in 35 games, including four starts. He’s a two-time All-ACC Academic football team selection, landing on a conference academic team four times in his career. Buckey earned the program’s Chris Draft Commitment to Community Outreach Award during his final two seasons, given to a player who demonstrates a special commitment to community outreach.

A key cog in Stanford’s Democracy Day, Buckey helped launch Stanford’s first Democracy Day in 2024, helping hundreds of Stanford students and staff register to vote before the election. He has also been the Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Evans, the 2025 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, helped guide Stanford to three consecutive College Cup appearances in her final three seasons on The Farm. The 2025 United Soccer Coaches National Scholar Player of the Year, Evans was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team, a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, and a United Soccer…