IUP's Tabtip Louhabanjong and West Chester's Liz Wilson.
Two PSAC Student-Athletes Presented with NCAA Elite 89 Awards at Spring Championship Festival
West Chester and IUP Sports Information both contributed to this story
Louisville, Ky. - Two PSAC student-athletes were presented with the NCAA Elite 89 Award last week at the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Championship Festival. Tabtip Louhabanjong of IUP was presented with the Elite 89 Award for the women's tennis championship while West Chester's Liz Wilson was award the Elite 89 honor for the women's lacrosse championship. Three PSAC student-athletes have now been honored as Elite 89 recipients during this academic year.
Louhabanjong, who last month was also the recipient of the PSAC Champion Scholar Award as the student-athlete with the highest grade point average at the PSAC Women's Tennis Championship,becomes the third IUP student-athlete, and second women's tennis player, to receive this award in its short three-year history, following Joe Rocco (men's basketball) in the winter of 2011 and Kelly McBryan (women's tennis) in the spring of 2011. A foreign languages, literatures and linguistics major, Louhabanjong carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average. She was presented with the award last Wednesday morning prior to IUP's Round of 16 match against Abilene Christian.
Wilson, majoring in communicative disorders, currently carries a 3.901 GPA. She was presented with the award before West Chester’s semifinal contest against Rollins last Thursday morning. Wilson is the second West Chester athlete honored by the NCAA in its Elite 89 program. In the fall, field hockey midfielder Nancy Stehman won the award during the Division II national semifinals for her sport.
Additionally, the IUP women's tennis team was honored with a team GPA award for having the top team GPA among the 16 teams at the women's tennis championship. The Crimson Hawks secured the spot with a 3.74 team GPA. IUP was one of six teams to receive the award, joining others from the sports of softball, women's lacrosse, men's and women's golf and men's tennis. IUP received the award at the festival's closing ceremonies on Saturday night at Chuchill Downs.
The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes 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. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.
The award was named the Elite 88 for the first two years of its existence for the NCAA's 88 championships across all three divisions, but with the addition of another NCAA championship for the 2011-12 academic year (Division III men's volleyball), the award was renamed the Elite 89.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. They must be an active member of the team, traveling and a designated member of the squad size at the championship. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
The PSAC established its own academic recognition award the is based off the NCAA Elite 89 award beginning with the recently concluded academic year. More information on the PSAC Champion Scholar Awards is available here.
For more information on the Elite 88/89 award winners, log on to www.NCAA.com/elite89.