BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) recognized some of its best and brightest spring-sport student-athletes on Wednesday with the announcement of the baseball, softball, tennis, and outdoor track & field Elite 22 Awards. St. Scholastica junior Jonas Abeleda and Saint Benedict junior Ashley Tarrolly received the award for men’s and women’s tennis, respectively; Saint John’s senior Tommy Allen and Bethel senior Annessa Ihde were the recipients in outdoor track & field; St. Olaf senior Hannah Peschel received the award in softball and Bethel senior Matthew Carlsen received baseball’s Elite 22 award. The MIAC Elite 22 Award recognizes the true essence of the term “student-athlete” by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. Modeled after the NCAA Elite 90 Award, the MIAC Elite 22 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average (GPA) in each sport who meets similarly high, sport-specific athletic requirements. In all sports with MIAC team playoff tournaments, including tennis, baseball, and softball, the MIAC Elite 22 Award is presented to the individual with the highest GPA on the active postseason roster of a playoff-qualifying team. In championship meet sports, including outdoor track & field, the winner is the individual with the highest GPA who was named All-Conference. Each winner must be a junior or senior and in at least their second full academic year at their current institution. Ties are broken by the number of credits earned. Abeleda (Sydney, Australia | St Aloysius’ College) played No. 1 singles for the Saints in 2023-24, collecting four conference wins and seven victories overall as St. Scholastica advanced to the MIAC Men’s Tennis Playoff semifinals for the first time in program history. Abeleda has a 3.98 GPA while majoring in exercise physiology at St. Scholastica. He is the Saints’ first-ever MIAC Elite 22 recipient in any sport.Allen (Sr. | Woodbury, Minn. | St. Paul Academy) earned All-MIAC honors after helping the Johnnies to a second-place finish in the 4×800-meter relay at the 2024 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Allen has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in biochemistry at Saint John’s. This is Allen’s second Elite 22 award in outdoor track & field, having previously received the honor in 2022. He also won the award for indoor track & field twice (2022, 2023) and cross country once (2022).  Carlsen (Sr. | Miltona, Minn. | Alexandria) batted .368 with 23 RBI and 17 extra-base hits in MIAC games alone in 2024. In 42 total contests, he drove home 41 runs on 63 hits – 30 of which went for extra bases. He has a 3.9 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering at Bethel. This is Carlsen’s third consecutive Elite 22 award in baseball. Ihde (Jr. | Appleton, Wis. | North) won the 800 meters and placed second in the 1500 meters at the 2024 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She was also part of the Royals’ victorious 4×400-meter relay squad. Ihde has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in international relations, history, and Spanish at Bethel. This is Ihde’s second straight outdoor track & field Elite 22 honor. She has also been the indoor track & field Elite 22 recipient each of the last three years.Peschel (Shoreview, Minn. | Mounds View) started all 22 conference games for the Oles, batting .313 with 20 hits and 20 RBI. She belted four home runs and added nine doubles in 39 games overall, adding 14 walks along the way. She has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in political science and quantitative economics at St. Olaf. Peschel previously won the Elite 22 award in 2022.Tarrolly (St. Cloud, Minn. | Tech) occupied the top singles spot for the Bennies in 2023-24, collecting five MIAC wins and eight overall to go along with eight victories at No. 1 doubles. She is a 4.0 economics major at Saint Benedict. A physical award will be provided to the winners to commemorate their MIAC Elite 22 Award. The conference also recognizes the honorees on the MIAC Elite 22 Award website, which archives each of the winners throughout the academic year.| 2023-24 MIAC Elite 22 Award | Elite 22 Home Page |



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