PSAC Student-Athletes Claim Four NCAA Elite 88 Awards in 2010-11
NCAA Elite 88 Award Website
For the second straight academic year, a total of four student-athletes from PSAC schools have been honored as recipients of an NCAA Elite 88 Award. Two of those honorees are repeat winners as they were also honored with Elite 88 awards last year, the inaugural season of the awards. Two of those student-athletes participate in PSAC-sponsored sports while the other two participate in sports that are not sponsored by the PSAC.
The NCAA Elite 88 award was founded by the NCAA to recognize the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. It is presented to one student-athlete, who must be at least a sophomore in both academic and athletic standing, with the highest grade point average at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships across all three divisions - I, II and III.
Both Kristen Brooks of Shippensburg (field hockey) and Bethany Brun of Mercyhurst (women's rowing), were repeat winners of the Elite 88 award. They were two of only three student-athletes across all of Division II to win the award for the second straight year, reflecting not only a continued devotion to academic success but also the success of their respective teams.
Brooks, who last year became the first Elite 88 award recipient overall as the Division II field hockey championship was the first NCAA championship contested in the 2009-10 year, this year became the first two-time recipient of the Elite 88 award in any of the three divisions. Brooks was also a PSAC Fall Top 10 award recipient in January and recently was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's At-Large first team and is currently on the ballot for the At-Large Academic All-America team, which will be announced next week. Story
At the NCAA Division II women's tennis championship held earlier this month in Altamonte Springs, Fla., IUP sophomore Kelly McBryan became the second IUP student-athlete to garner an Elite 88 award, joining former men's basketball player Joe Rocco, who captured that Elite 88 award last year at the men's basketball Elite Eight. Story
Last week, at the NCAA Division II rowing championship held in Sacramento, Calif., Mercyhurst senior Bethany Brun won the Elite 88 award for the second straight year in that sport. Women's rowing in not a PSAC-sponsored sport. In doing so, Brun became just the third Division II student-athlete to capture the award twice, joining Brooks and Wayne State (Mich.) men's swimmer Matthew Laschuk. Story
Just two days after Brun garnered her award, Mercyhurst men's lacrosse student-athlete Ian Wild was named as the recipient of the Elite 88 award at the Division II men's lacrosse championship in Baltimore. Wild, who two days later helped guide the Lakers to a national championship, is a two-sport athlete. In addition to participating in the non-PSAC sport of men's lacrosse, he is also a defensive back on Mercyhurst's PSAC championship football team and last fall was named a PSAC Fall Top 10 award winner and a first team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American® in football. Story