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 Elite 22 Awards. Two Gustavus student-athletes received the award as Betsy Schoenrock (Jr., New Richland) is the women’s basketball recipient and Kayla Vrieze (Sr., Eagan) is the women’s hockey recipient.
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 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 roster at the MIAC Playoff championship contest. In swimming & diving and indoor track & field, the winner is the individual with the highest GPA who was named All-Conference. The recipient must be a sophomore, junior, or senior and in at least his or her second season of competition with their current team.
Schoenrock saw action in 12 games this season for the Gusties, including two tournament victories on Gustavus’s run to the MIAC women’s basketball playoff title. She is a career 49.5-percent shooter at Gustavus and averaged 6.4 minutes per game in three seasons for the Gusties. Schoenrock has a 3.95 GPA while majoring in elementary education.
Vrieze had two goals and an assist from her defender position during the Gusties run to their 15th MIAC women’s hockey playoff championship in program history. For the season, Vrieze has tallied 11 points and had a +10 mark in conference play en route to All-Conference honors. She has a 3.99 GPA while majoring in public accounting at Gustavus. Vrieze previously received the MIAC’s Elite 22 award for women’s hockey in 2020.