?The Elite 13 Award, formerly the CCAA Championship Scholar Award, recognizes the academic and athletic achievement of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.

Instituted in 2017-18, the award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the final CCAA championship site in each conference-sponsored sport. 

Past Championship Scholar Award Winners


2023-24 Elite 13 Award Winners

Women's Cross Country	Men's Cross Country	Women's Soccer	Men's Soccer	Volleyball
OLIVIA RENFRO San Francisco State	NICK MELANESE Cal State San Marcos	ABBY BORG Cal Poly Humboldt	JANOS KOMMERLING Cal State Monterey Bay	MIA CHRISTENSEN Cal State San Marcos
JR | Fresno Liberal Studies	JR | Scripps Ranch Marketing	SR | Tualatin, Ore. Kinesology	JR | Dusseldorf, Germany Business Administration	JR | Huntington Beach Communications
Women's Basketball	Men's Basketball	Women's Golf	Men's Golf	Softball
REINA SAUSEDO Cal Poly Pomona	ALEX GILAT San Francisco State	MORGAN SJOERDSMA Cal State LA	JASON McELORY Cal State San Marcos	KIRA NILSON San Francisco State
JR | Ripon Kinesiology	JR | Ascot, U.K. Business	SR | Corona Mathematics	JR | Sacramento Business Management	JR | Martinez Kinesiology
	Women's Track & Field	Men's Track & Field	Baseball
	ALEX BOYLE Sonoma State	LAMONT LANE Stanislaus State	THEO DOPKINS San Francisco State
	JR | Oceanside Mathematics	JR | Fresno Criminal Justice	SR | West Sacramento Business Management

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Women's Cross Country
??For the second consecutive season, the Elite 13 Award for women's cross country went to San Francisco State's Olivia Renfro. The junior is majoring in Curriculum & Instruction as she pursues a career in education. She ran in the 2023 CCAA Cross Country Championships at Quarry Lake Regional Park, and her best finish during the season came at the Jim Hunt Invitational (25th). Renfro is the first Gator student-athlete to earn an Elite 13 Award in consecutive seasons. 


  Men's Cross Country
??Nick Melanese kept the tradition of Elite 13 Award winners for the Cal State San Marcos men's cross country team alive, becoming the third Cougar in the past four seasons to win the honor. Melanese had a perfect grade point average at CSUSM while majoring in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing. He finished 29th at the 2023 CCAA Championships, helping his team place fifth. It was just his second meet of the season for the CCAA 800m and 1500m champion. 



 
Women's Soccer
??The 2023 CCAA Elite 13 Award from women's soccer went to Cal Poly Humboldt's Abby Borg. The senior has a perfect grade point average as a Kinesiology major with the goal of going into the pre-health profession. This year on the pitch, she helped the Lumberjacks go 13-5-2 and reach the semifinal round of the CCAA Women's Soccer Tournament after earning a win at Stanislaus State. She started in all 18 matches she played and was third on the team in minutes played (1,494).







    Men's Soccer


 
Volleyball
??Cal State San Marcos' Mia Christensen collected the CCAA Elite 13 Award for volleyball. The senior libero/defensive specialist helped lead the Cougars back into the CCAA Tournament after a one-year hiatus. She ranked sixth in the CCAA with 3.70 digs per set. She played in all 27 matches and added 34 aces and 99 assists. She is majoring in Communication at CSUSM.







    ??The 2023-24 Elite 13 Award for Men's Basketball went to San Francisco State's Alex Gilat. The junior from Ascot, United Kingdom, has a perfect grade point average as a business major. He came off the bench in all 31 games this season, shooting .432 percent from the field while scoring 93 points on the season. 





 
Women's Basketball
??For the first time since the CCAA Elite 13/Championship Scholar Award was implemented in 2017-18, it is going to be a member of the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team. Reina Sausedo registered the highest grade point average of all student-athletes at the CCAA women's basketball championship. After receiving her award, the senior Kinesiology major helped lead her team to a first-round win in the CCAA Championships. She came off the bench to play 24 minutes, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-leading eight rebounds. 






  ??CCAA Men's Golf Elite 13 Award for the 2023-24 season went to Cal State San Marcos' Jason McElroy. The junior Business Administration major with a focus in Management and Organizations was one of the Cougars' top golfers all season and helped lead them to another NCAA Regional appearance. McElroy ranked 19th in the region with a 73.0 adjusted scoring average. His best finish came at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational, where he placed third with a 9-under 207. 






 
Women's Golf
??For the third consecutive season, Cal State LA's Morgan Sjoerdsma has been selected as the CCAA's Elite 13 Award recipient for women's golf. The graduate student already has a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and is currently working on her Master's in Educational Technology. This season, she was the 73rd-ranked individual in NCAA Div. II and helped lead Cal State LA to its first NCAA Regional appearance. Sjoerdsma won the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout for her best finish in 2024. 

  ??Stanislaus State's Lamont Lane has been selected as the men's track & field Elite 13 Award winner for the 2024 season. As a Criminal Justice major, Lane posted a perfect grade point average and three the discus, hammer, and shot put for the Warriors. At the 2024 CCAA Championships, Lane registered a career-best mark of 143-2 (43.69m) in the discus and placed second in the conference with a 171-0 (52.12m) mark in the hammer. 






 
Women's Track & Field
??Alex Boyle from Sonoma State was named the Elite 13 Award winner for women's track & field. Boyle is in her third year and has a perfect grade point average as a Mathematics major. The junior from Oceanside, Calif., ran in six meets during the 2024 campaign. She specialized in the steeplechase and ran it at the 204 CCAA Championships. 
 



  ??San Francisco State's Kira Nilson was selected as softball's 2024 Elite 13 Award winner. The outfielder hit .259 during her junior campaign. She drove in 20 runs and scored 12. Nilson added eight stolen bases as she helped the Gators earn the program's third CCAA Tournament appearance and the first since 2019. Nilson is a Kinesiology major focusing on Exercise and Movement Science. 






 
Baseball
??The 2024 Elite 13 Award for baseball went to San Francisco State's Theo Dopkins. The junior left-handed pitcher has nearly a perfect grade point average while double majoring in Business Management and Psychology. In the 2024 CCAA Tournament, Dopkins fired three scoreless innings to start a must-win elimination game against the defending champions Cal State Monterey Bay and helped his team win the contest and force a winner-take-all game for the championship.