MIAC ELITE 22 AWARD - 2017 MEN'S/WOMEN'S GOLF

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University's Brett Buckingham (SO, Glenwood, Minn./Minnewaska Area HS) was named as the winner of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Elite 22 award for academic excellence in men's golf, it was announced on Wednesday.

The MIAC's Elite 22 Award, modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 honor, is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average among competing teams at MIAC playoff championship games in team sports, and among all-conference honorees at MIAC championships in individual sports. According to the MIAC, student-athletes must have achieved sophomore status and be in at least their second seasons with their current team.

Buckingham is a marketing major at Augsburg with a 4.00 grade-point average.

Earlier this month, Buckingham became the fifth Auggie in school history to win the MIAC championship in men's golf, finishing with a career-best, three-day, 54-hole score of 3-over-par 219. He rallied late in the MIAC tournament to share co-medalist honors with Gustavus' Alec Aunan, claiming birdies on three of the final six holes. He had a tournament-best 11 birdies in the event and claimed his second tournament title of his collegiate career.

This fall, Buckingham has a 74.4 stroke average and .860 (363-59) win-loss percentage. His stroke average is second-best on the squad and fifth-best among MIAC men's golfers this fall. He has recorded top-10 finishes in three of his five events so far this season. In his two seasons at Augsburg, Buckingham has a 75.3 career stroke average and .808 (1033-246) win-loss percentage in 35 competitive rounds, with top-10 finishes in seven of his 16 collegiate events.

As a team, Augsburg finished in third place at the 2017 MIAC Championships and will carry a 300.0 season stroke average into its final event of the fall half of the 2017-18 campaign, at the Berry (Ga.) Chick-Fil-A Collegiate Invitational in Rome, Ga., next Monday and Tuesday (10/23-24).