NDSU thrower Benji Phillips and thrower Shelby Gunnells were named recipients of the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Elite 90 Award is presented to the single student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at each of the NCAA’s 90 national championships. Phillips owns a 4.0 grade-point average with a double major in exercise science and psychology, while Gunnells has earned her Bachelor of Science degree from NDSU in geology with a 4.0 GPA.

Phillips, from Glasgow, Montana, recently completed his fourth year at NDSU. He is a sophomore athletically in 2021 after redshirting the 2018 season and having the 2020 season canceled. Phillips claimed the Summit League title in the javelin this season and ranks seventh nationally in Division I for the event.

Gunnells ranks eighth on the NCAA performance list in the shot put this season, and No. 2 all-time at NDSU in the event. She is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, and was the Summit League Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and Championships Field MVP in 2020.

Phillips’s honor is the first for NDSU men’s track and field. Gunnells’ recognition is the second for NDSU women’s track and field, joining Whitney Carlson in 2011.

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