Corder Wins NCAA Elite 88 Award
11/30/2010 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 30, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -
University of Alabama men's cross country student-athlete Nathan Corder has been honored with the NCAA's prestigious Elite 88 award, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating in the finals for each of the NCAA's 88 championships.
A junior mathematics major, Corder helped the Crimson Tide to an 11th-place finish at last Monday's NCAA Championships in addition to winning the academic honor.
"This is a tremendous honor for our program to have the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the NCAA Championships and it goes to a well-deserved recipient," head men's cross country coach Joe Walker said. "Our program is about creating the entire college experience and we set out with the goal of succeeding in the classroom and athletically."
Corder boasts a perfect 4.00 grade-point average in his course work and was honored last spring as an ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-American.
"I wanted to go to a school I where I could succeed academically and run as well if I had the opportunity," Corder said. "At Alabama I am able to compete nationally in both athletics and academics."
Corder is the third UA student-athlete to earn the honor since it was created in the fall of 2009. Gymnast Kassi Price won the award last winter while women's golfer Brooke Pancake was honored in the spring. Alabama is one of just five Division I universities to have multiple student-athletes win the award joining Stanford (5), North Carolina (3), Baylor (3) and Nebraska (2).
