At a typical NCAA championship finals site, one student-athlete is recognized as the Elite 90 award winner. At the Division II National Championships Festival in Seattle, six such athletes were honored.
The award, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site of each of the NCAA's championships, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers.
Below are the six winners from the Olympic-style championship event, who shared what the recognition means to them, how they've felt supported in their academic endeavors and how their student-athlete experience has prepared them for their professional dreams.
Division II festival Elite 90 winners (name, school and sport, major)
- Zoe Baker, Colorado School of Mines women's cross country, computer science.
- Kennedy Brady, Concordia-St. Paul women's volleyball, secondary math education.
- Carley Canzoneri, Columbus State women's soccer, accounting.
- Duncan Fuehne, Colorado School of Mines men's cross country, engineering physics.
- Adriana Palumbo, West Chester field hockey, public health.
- Roy Shohat, Barry men's soccer, exercise physiology.
What does it mean to receive the Elite 90 award?
Duncan Fuehne: I think (this award) is a testament to the culture we have at Mines. I have teammates who are going in and studying invisibility in their research. … I have other teammates who are going to be nuclear engineering and running nuclear reactors, and others studying environmental engineering. So it pushes me to be better, to focus on learning new things and having a curiosity about the world around me and wanting to make a difference in the world. It's a testament to our team culture.
Carley Canzoneri: It feels great. I put in so much work on the field and in school, so it just feels really rewarding to know that my work is being recognized.
Kennedy Brady: It really shows how dedicated our program is to making us student-athletes. I've had to come to practice late and I've had to leave a little early before, and everybody has been amazing about that. It just means a lot that the hard work on and off the court has paid off. Our staff at Concordia has been amazing, too. We keep getting emails from our professors saying, "Keep going (in the NCAA tournament)! We love it!" so we have a lot of support both in athletics and academically. They support us being student-athletes. It feels really nice to have all of that come together.
How do you successfully balance athletics and academics?
Roy Shohat: Honestly, if I wouldn't have soccer, I wouldn't do as well (in school), because it's nice to have the balance. You know you have a set time to do (academic work), and then you can go on the field and distract, de-stress. I just like the balance. It's a good busy. I think the fact that you have another thing kind of takes the weight off school and allows you to be less stressed and therefore do better.
Zoe Baker: It's hard. I've definitely had a lot of stress and late nights over the years. Having some non-negotiables helps. I always plan running into my schedule. I plan practice. That's just going to happen. I'm going to run my however-many miles a week. And I have goals in running, so if that's a non-negotiable, you tend to be able to find time to do everything else. I think having ability to not stress so much about things helps, too. And I think running actually helps with school, and school helps with running. I'm not super focused on one thing so I can't put all that stress in one area. I think they tend to balance each other out, which helps me mentally. It's just prioritizing things, really committing to getting your training done and getting your school done and believing you can achieve all of your goals and then having the supportive team atmosphere to do so.
Brady: It just takes a lot of practice, knowing where and when to put the time in. I feel like open communication is important. When I'm struggling, I ask for help. I really am not afraid to be, like, "I did not get this assignment done and will get it to you by Monday." Almost all of my professors have been so amazing at being, like, "Thank you for communicating, and I will help you out in any way I can." I've been a big communicator and advocating for myself and being, like, "This is what I need and I'm sorry it's maybe not on the timeline that's most convenient to you, but it's just what I need right now." They're really, really great in response to that.
How have you felt supported by your school, coaches and teammates in your academic endeavors?
Adriana Palumbo: I've been so supported. My team, we're at study hall two times a week, and everyone's pushing each other to do our work. We're all there working on our work, and then our coaches are always checking in on us and asking us how our classes are. If we have class during practice, (our coach is) always saying go to class and then come to practice late. She wants us to do our best in the class, and she always pushes academics over athletics.
Shohat: I really need to give credit to Barry. I think it's a great school. The fact that it's a small university, the professor-student ratio is pretty good, so I just feel like that if you show you want to succeed, show you want to do better, everyone will help you to get whatever you want because you showed the intention. Obviously, in the end, it's on you, so you need to do well. But everyone around you is really helpful, and I've just appreciated that. With regards to the team, there's always a good environment. In the end, they're my best friends, and if you don't have a good social circle, you can't enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, you won't do well.
Canzoneri: I would say just my teammates, they're always there for me. They always know that if I can't go do something and I have to study for a test, they're always really supportive of that. We all have the same mindset, so I feel really supported."
How do you think your college athletics experience has prepared you for success in your future career?
Palumbo: Being an athlete has taught me so much about being a leader and listening to teammates and collaborating with others. It's also taught me that you have to speak to others differently. You're on a team, so not everyone reacts the same way, so that's definitely going to help me later on in life when I'm dealing with patients (as a physician's assistant) where it's, like, you can't treat every single person the same. Everyone has to be treated differently and requires different needs.
Baker: Being a college athlete really forces you to work with a team, how to have a healthy team dynamic and recognizing how important the team dynamic is toward success. I think also just having to deal with a bunch of different commitments, learning how to manage your time, learning especially when to say no. I think one important thing about being an athlete is it teaches you how much you have to take care of yourself physically and mentally in order to perform well. I never want to miss out on sleep. I never want to miss out on food. I want to make sure I'm fueled and well rested in order to succeed and in order to handle all of the things in my life successfully, so I think I'll carry that on to the professional world, as well.
Fuehne: I think being a student-athlete has helped in just learning that there's more to life than one extremely focused career path. Yes, I go and do physics for eight hours a day, but then I do two hours of running. In my future life, I want to carry that on and find a hobby in order to distract myself from what my career path is. That way I can enjoy more and find more to life than just one thing.
