Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Emily Toennies captures MVC Elite 18 award
02/03/2011 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Feb. 3, 2011
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS - Southern Illinois cross country athlete Emily Toennies has been named one of the Missouri Valley Conference's Elite 18 winners for the fall season, the league announced Thursday.
Toennies, a senior majoring in biological sciences, holds a 4.0 GPA throughout her academic career at Southern Illinois. She finished fourth at the 2010 MVC Cross Country Championships held in Augusta, Kan.
The Elite 18 Award Program was established by the MVC in the fall of 2010 to honor the highest achievement in academics and athletics by a student-athlete in each MVC-sponsored sport. Modeled after the NCAA Elite 88 Academic Recognition Award Program, the MVC Elite 18 award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC's 18 team championships.
The selection process varies for each sport, and winners are chosen from a list of nominations submitted by MVC institutions. For the team sports of soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, baseball and softball, the winner will be chosen from the two teams participating in the championship game or match. For cross country, golf, swimming and diving, and track and field, the winners will be chosen from nominated student-athletes who have met a athletic performance threshold (for instance, in cross country, the eligible student-athletes must have finished among the top 10 at the championship meet).
The 2010 Fall Elite 18 winners include:
Women's Cross Country - Emily Toennies, Southern Illinois, 4.00 Biological Sciences
Men's Cross Country - Brett Egan, Northern Iowa, 3.97 Mathematics
Women's Soccer - Alicia Montgomery, Creighton, 3.81 Math/Secondary Education
Men's Soccer - Bobby Smith, Bradley, 3.90 Accounting
Volleyball - Beth Discher, Northern Iowa, 4.00 Accounting
Players Mentioned
