Junior forward Ashley Leonard has earned the Conference USA Fall Spirit of Service award, the league office announced Thursday.

The award is given to one student-athlete from each member school for each of the playing seasons, fall, winter and spring. The fall season includes women’s soccer, football, volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country.

It is designed to honor student-athletes with significant community service endeavors, excellent academic standing and notable athletic achievements.

On the pitch, Leonard paced the WKU women’s soccer team in 2019 with eight goals on the season. That mark is the ninth most in a WKU season. She was clutch for the Lady Toppers, scoring the game-winner in four different matches while connecting on two penalty kicks.

In the classroom, she was named CoSIDA Academic All-District and was selected to the C-USA All-Academic Team this season.

Leonard is an international business major at WKU and has maintained a 3.95 GPA.

In the community, Leonard has become the leader of WKU’s service opportunities. She revolutionized the way the team organizes its community service by creating an online spreadsheet that has helped members of the team stay organized and has maximized the number of hours achieved by the squad.

She connected primarily with three organizations in Bowling Green — Arcadia Senior Living, Second and Seven Organization and Curbside.

The latter two groups serve children in the area through reading in classrooms, playing games, mentoring and serving meals.

With her organization and connections, the team has logged 105 hours of service this semester.

Their latest endeavor was an event called Bag of Blessings with Curbside. The team handed out toys, shoes, socks and other winter necessities to members of the community who may be going through a hard time around the holiday season.

Leonard is also involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter on campus. As a leader, she organizes Bible study groups and organizes the group’s community service efforts as well.

Sports Editor Drake Kizer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Drake on Twitter at @drakekizer_.