ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) football season recently wrapped up its 2013 season, and Thursday the conference recognized the winner of a prestigious new honor. St. Thomas senior Keegan Bragg was honored for his combined athletic and academic achievement with the MIAC Elite 22 Award.

The MIAC Elite 22 Award recognizes the true essence of the 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 89 Award, the MIAC Elite 22 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average (GPA) in each sport who meet similarly high, sport-specific athletic requirements. 

The MIAC Elite 22 Football Award is presented to the individual with the highest GPA who helped his team finish first or second in the final conference standings, including ties. The winner must be a sophomore, junior or senior and in at least his or her second season of competition with their current team.

There were three teams eligible for the honor - MIAC champion Bethel (10-0, 8-0 MIAC) and co-runners-up St. Thomas (8-2, 6-2 MIAC) and Concordia (8-2, 6-2 MIAC). Among those three teams, Bragg emerged with the highest GPA. The Tommies' offensive lineman and a senior Mechanical Engineering major claimed the conference's first-ever Elite 22 Award in football thanks to his near-perfect 3.98 GPA.

This is Bragg's second career honor of this nature as he won the award that inspired the Elite 22 a year ago. Bragg received the 2012 NCAA Elite 89 Award for Division III football, as St. Thomas advanced to the national championship game, and Bragg's GPA was the best on either the Tommie or Mount Union rosters. Bragg is an Eagan, Minn., native and a graduate of Eagan High School. He played defensive line as a freshman and sophomore before moving to offensive line for his final two seasons. Bragg received MIAC Academic All-Conference honors in 2012, and could be in line for similar honors this season.

Bragg's prestigious MIAC honor comes at the end of an extremely successful St. Thomas career. The 2013 UST senior class helped the team win three MIAC championships and compile a 38-2 record (30-2 MIAC) in the regular season. They made three trips to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, reaching the quarterfinals in 2010, the semifinals in 2011 and the championship game in 2012. Bragg and his classmates led the Tommies to a 47-5 overall record in their careers.

A plaque will be provided to Bragg to commemorate his MIAC Elite 22 Award. He is also recognized on the MIAC Elite 22 Award web site, which will archive each of the 22 winners throughout the 2013-14 season. He is the third St. Thomas student-athlete to claim the honor this fall, along with men's golf's Alex Kapraun and women's golf Erin Dingmann.

The MIAC Elite 22 Award was modeled after the NCAA Elite 89 Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the championship site for each of the NCAA's 89 sponsored-sports across Divisions I, II and III. The award emerged from the MIAC's strategic plan, and was unanimously approved by the conference's governance structure in May.

| MIAC Elite 22 Award | 2013-14 MIAC Elite 22 Award Archive |