NDSU wide receiver Daniel Polansky won the NCAA Elite 90 Award, presented Jan. 5 at the NCAA Division I Football Championship banquet.

The award goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at each of the NCAA's 90 national championships. Polansky, a senior from Gatzke, Minnesota, had a 4.0 GPA and graduated in December with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

"I definitely learned a lot about time management trying to balance football, school and also working part-time," Polansky said. "My strategy was to get done with what I needed to get done, then try and have fun."

Polansky played in 26 career games and has made five receptions in his 13 games this year for the Bison.

He worked about 15 hours per week at John Deere Electronic Solutions, where he will continue to put his NDSU degree to work. Polansky will stay on with the company as an electronic design engineer. 

NDSU's Elite 90 Award recipients include:

2011 - Amy Anderson, women's golf

2011 - Whitney Carlson, women's outdoor track and field

2013 - Esley Thorton, football

2014 - Carson Wentz, football

2015 - Carson Wentz, football

2016 - Carson Wentz, football

2016 - Clay Ream, wrestling

2017 - Clay Ream, wrestling

2018 - Daniel Polansky, football

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