NCAA Elite 90 Homepage
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Less than 24 hours before No. 9 Messiah plays No. 19 Brandeis in the Division III Final Four, the NCAA announced the Falcons'
Cooper Robbins as the winner of the Elite 90 academic award. Robbins was announced as this year's recipient at the Final Four Banquet this evening.
Robbins, a Biology major, carries a 3.95 cumulative grade point average (GPA). He is the seventh different Messiah student-athlete in history to receive the award joining Molly Bletz (women's soccer, 2009), Emily Hursh (field hockey, 2010), Nathan Eagan (men's soccer, 2013), Kayla Deckert (women's soccer, 2015 and 2016), Katie Wingert (women's swimming, 2017), and Annalise Armstrong (field hockey, 2017).
Robbins is a starting defender for the Falcons, and has helped them allow just 12 goals all season while registering a goals against average of 0.492 that is No. 10 in the nation. The Falcons' have also collected 16 team shutouts thus far, just the seventh time in program history they've reached the mark.
Messiah and Brandeis play on Friday in the National Semifinal at 5:00 p.m.
About the NCAA Elite 90 Award
The Elite 90, 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 90 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.
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.
For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to
NCAA.com/elite-90.
