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MIAC announces 2025-26 winter sport Elite 22 winners

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) recognized some of its best and brightest winter-sport student-athletes on Thursday with the announcement of the basketball, hockey, swimming & diving, and indoor track & field Elite 22 Awards.
 
Carleton juniors Jackson Rankin and Hailey Westrup received the Elite 22 honors for men's and women's swimming & diving, respectively. Gustavus junior Isaac Dearborn earned the award in men's basketball, while Saint Mary's senior Lindsey Lettner won her second in a row for women's basketball. Gustavus junior Jade Anstine and St. Olaf senior Ashlyn Jore were recognized for men's and women's indoor track & field, and the men's and women's hockey honors went to Saint Mary's junior Connor Abric and Saint Benedict senior Jamie Bimberg.
 
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 their sport while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. Modeled after the NCAA Elite Scholar-Athlete Award (formerly 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 postseason tournaments, including basketball and hockey, 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 swimming & diving and indoor 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 at current institutions.
 
Abric (Jr. / Hayward, Wis. / Hayward) played in 16 games as a defender for the Cardinals, collecting at least one blocked shot in ten contests and contributing a goal and an assist on the offensive end of the ice as well. He has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in computer science at Saint Mary's.
 
Anstine (Jr. / Sioux Falls, S.D. / O'Gorman) picked up three All-Conference honors at the 2026 MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships with third-place finishes in the 55-meter dash (6.52), 200-meter dash (22.43), and as a member of the Gusties' 4x200-meter relay (1:29.30). A nursing major, Anstine has a 4.0 GPA at Gustavus.
 
Bimberg (Sr. / Chanhassen, Minn. / Chanhassen) has played in 27 games as a defender for the Bennies, helping Saint Benedict secure the program's first-ever MIAC Playoff championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament. Bimberg has logged one goal and a career-best five assists, with 15 blocked shots as a senior. She has a 3.98 GPA while majoring in accounting at CSB.
 
Dearborn (Jr. / Byron, Minn. / Byron) has seen action in 18 games for the MIAC champion Gusties while shooting .357 from the floor, .375 from beyond the arc, and .800 from the free-throw line. He has a 3.98 GPA as an education major at Gustavus.
 
Jore (Sr. / Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) earned All-Conference status after becoming the first Ole since 1994 to win the women's long jump title at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Jore placed first in the MIAC with a leap of 5.57 meters (18' 3.25"). She is a biology major with a 4.0 GPA.
 
Lettner (Sr. / Trempealeau, Wis. / Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau) was a 28-game starter and averaged 26.2 minutes per game for the Cardinals this season, helping Saint Mary's to a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in more than a decade. This is the second straight MIAC Elite 22 Award for the 4.0 accounting major.
 
Rankin (Jr. / Potomac, Md. / Wootton) earned a pair of All-Conference honors at the 2026 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships, winning the conference title in the 200 fly (1:51.56) and placing second in the 100 fly (50.05). An economics and mathematics double-major, Rankin has a 3.97 GPA at Carleton.
 
Westrup (Jr. / Sartell, Minn. / Sartell) picked up two All-MIAC accolades at the 2026 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships by finishing as the conference runner-up in both the 1-meter (449.75) and 3-meter (473.65) diving events. Westrup has a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in chemistry at Carleton.
 
Each MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient will receive a plaque to commemorate their achievement. An archive of previous MIAC Elite 22 recipients can be found on the Elite 22 home page.
 
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