Liberty’s Finnigan Receives Elite 90 Award for Highest GPA of DI NCAAs

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Alicia Finnigan of Division I Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia has received the Elite 90 Award for the student-athlete with the top GPA at the 2018 Women’s NCAA DI Swimming and Diving Championships. Finnigan, a junior interdisciplinary studies major, has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA.

Finnigan is Liberty’s first-ever athlete to win the award. This is her second appearance at NCAAs; she also competed at 2016 Olympic Trials and finished 10th in the 200 fly at last year’s World Championship Trials. She finished 42nd in the 100 fly this morning, and will swim the 200 tomorrow.

What an honor for Alicia, our swimming & diving program, and for Liberty University,” Liberty Head Coach Jake Shellenberger said. “A leader in the classroom, the pool, and beyond, Alicia excels in all facets of life. She is a model student-athlete, and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments.”

The honor is given annually to the athlete at each of the NCAA’s 90 sponsored championship final sites who has the highest GPA. Ties are broken by the number of credit hours completed, and athletes must be sophomores or above who have competed in their sport for at least two years with their school.

The last two Elite 90 Awards in 2016 and 2017 went to Kentucky’s Danielle Galyer. She was the first-ever DI swimmer to repeat as the Elite 90 winner.