Release courtesy of the WSU Sports Information Department

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Wayne State University sophomore Kristina Susalla (Garden City, Mich.) was the recipient of the NCAA softball Elite 88 Award at a recognition banquet Wednesday night prior to the start of the NCAA Division II College World Series.

The Elite 88, an award founded by the NCAA at the start of the 2009-10 season, is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships.  The student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in academic and athletics standing, and in at least his or her second year of competition (in any sport) at his or her current institution.

Susalla is a psychology major at WSU and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term gpa 3.5+) every semester.

Susalla becomes the fifth GLIAC student-athlete to receive the Elite 88 award this year, joining Michigan Technological University senior women's basketball player Sarah Stream (Ishpeming, Mich./Westwood), Wayne State sophomore men's swimmer Matthew Laschuck (Tecumseh, Ont./Academie Ste. Cecile), Grand Valley State Univeristy senior women's soccer player Natalja Stanski (Tecumseh, Ont./St. Anne) and Grand Valley State State senior football player Alex Gilde (McBain, Mich.).