NCAA ELITE 89 PROGRAM
MIAC ELITE 22 PROGRAM

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Augsburg College's Lauren Rice (SR, Minnetonka, Minn./Holy Family Catholic HS) has been named as the winner of the NCAA Elite 89 Award for NCAA Division III women's indoor track and field, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the NCAA national championships, it was announced on Thursday.

On Friday, Rice was also named as the winner of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Elite 22 Award for women's indoor track and field, a similar honor to the NCAA Elite 89 award on the MIAC level. The award, in its first year, is given to the conference student-athlete in each of the MIAC's 22 championship sports with the highest cumulative GPA and specific athletic requirements.

According to the NCAA, the Elite 89 Award "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 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 89 championships."

Rice is a communications studies major at Augsburg with a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average. Rice is the second Augsburg student-athlete to ever earn the NCAA Elite 89 Award; wrestler Tony Valek also earned the honor in 2012.

Rice will be competing at this weekend's NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., in the women's 5,000-meter run. Her event will be held on Friday (3/14) at 5:50 p.m. She won the women's 5,000-meter run at the MIAC Indoor Championships in a school-record 17:19.92 time, while finishing second in the women's 3,000-meter run in a school-record 9:59.28 time.