University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Basten Wins NCAA Elite 90 Award
3/12/2021 4:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
Alec Basten has been honored for having the highest cumulative GPA among the student-athletes participating at NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Alec Basten, a redshirt senior distance runner at the University of Minnesota, is the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship, the NCAA announced Friday.
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.
Basten completed his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology with a 3.877 grade point average, graduating in Fall 2020 with summa cum laude honors. Basten is now in his first semester of graduate school, pursuing his M.S. in Kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology. Basten was presented with the NCAA Elite 90 award after earning First Team All-American honors for finishing seventh in the men's 5,000 meters in a Minnesota program record time of 13:32.98 on Friday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
Basten is just the fifth Gopher in school history to earn the award, which was established in 2009-10. Basten joins Nathan Fortunato (men's gymnastics, 2012-13 and 2013-14), Yaroslav Pochinka (men's gymnastics, 2015-16), and Anna Barlow (women's hockey, 2016-17) to make up Minnesota's Elite 90 award recipients.
For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.com/elite-90.
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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.
Basten completed his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology with a 3.877 grade point average, graduating in Fall 2020 with summa cum laude honors. Basten is now in his first semester of graduate school, pursuing his M.S. in Kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology. Basten was presented with the NCAA Elite 90 award after earning First Team All-American honors for finishing seventh in the men's 5,000 meters in a Minnesota program record time of 13:32.98 on Friday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
Basten is just the fifth Gopher in school history to earn the award, which was established in 2009-10. Basten joins Nathan Fortunato (men's gymnastics, 2012-13 and 2013-14), Yaroslav Pochinka (men's gymnastics, 2015-16), and Anna Barlow (women's hockey, 2016-17) to make up Minnesota's Elite 90 award recipients.
For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.com/elite-90.
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