Full list of Elite 88 Award Winners
This year, the NCAA has created a new award that it hopes will create recognition for student-athletes who are truly student-athletes. In the vision of the former NCAA President Myles Brand, who passed away last September, this award attempts to do away with the “dumb-jock” myth.
“While an important part of academic reform has been to recognize teams performing at a high level academically, we also want to make sure to spotlight those student-athletes who have reached the highest level of competition in their sport while achieving excellence in their academic pursuits,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs in the official release on the NCAA website in October.
This unique award will recognize the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA from among the teams that advance to the final championship site for each sport and in each division. This makes for 88 total championships, hence the name. Candidates must be an active member of the team who travels and competes at the championship sites. This means that only the creme-de-la-creme of the top athletes, and students, will have even a chance at winning the award.
The swimming award winners for the 2010 championships are:
Men’s
Division I-Andrew Elliot, Ohio State- Elliot is a sophomore finance major at Ohio State who has a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Elliot is the Ohio State (and Indiana high school) record holder in the 100 backstroke. At the 2010 Championships, Elliot was part of two B-finalist Ohio State relays, and also swam individually in the 100 back, where he finished 21st in 47.46.
Division II-Matthew Laschuk, Wayne State- Laschuk is a sophomore Chemistry (pre-med) major at Wayne State with a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Laschuk finished 14th at the NCAA Championships in the 200 breaststroke (2:05.25) while his team finished second overall.
Division III-Kellen Beckwith, Olivet College- Beckwith is a junior mathematics major at Olivet College with a 4.0 cumulative GPA. At the NCAA Championships, Beckwith finished 7th in the 100 backstroke in 50.16. Beckwith also swam the 200 backstroke (1:52.31, 23rd place) and 50 freestyle (22.02, 47th).
Women’s
Division I-Ella Doerge, Texas A&M- Doerge is a senior Genetics major at Texas A&M University with a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Doerge graduated high school no. 1 in her class, and was a 2010 Rhodes Scholarship finalist. At the 2010 Championships, Doerge swam the butterfly leg on A&M’s 9th place 200 medley relay. Doerge also swam the 100 fly (54.28, 39th) and 100 free (49.65, 37th).
Division II-Angel Forsling, Colorado School of Mines- Forsling is a senior Petroleum Engineering major at the Colorado School of Mines with a 4.0 GPA. Not surprisingly, Forsling has already lined up a job as a production engineer with Aera Energy upon graduation. In 2010, Forsling was an honorable-mention All-American after finishing in 19th place (2:23.19) in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.
Division III-Tessa Dover, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps- Dover is a junior Psychology and Legal Studies major at Claermont-Mudd-Scripps with a cumulative 4.0 GPA. At the 2010 NCAA Championships, Dover finished 6th in the 200 backstroke in 2:02.93 to win an All-American award. She also finished 9th in the 100 backstroke in 56.74, and was part o f the runner-up 200 and 400 medley relay squads.
When reading through the list, what is especially impressive is the degrees that these athletes are earning. They have certainly not coasted their ways to a 4.0, with majors like Genetics, Petroleum Engineering, and Mathematics. Furthermore, men’s and women’s swimming are the only sports thus far with multiple championships where every championship has had an athlete with a 4.0 GPA.
Congratulations to all of these award winners, as well as the other student athletes who work hard in the pool and in the classroom.