FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ferrando Felis and Vazquez Kloss Earn Elite 24 Honors.
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Despite no formal season of competition for fall or winter sports in the Northeast-10 Conference, the league will continue to recognize its top scholar student-athletes by way of the Elite 24 Award. The Franklin Pierce duo of Carlos Ferrando Felis and Viridiana Vazquez Kloss are the latest honorees, representing the sports of men's and women's soccer, respectively.
The Elite 24 Award honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site at each NE10 Championship. No fall or winter championships were played in 2020-21, but the Elite 24 winners have been determined by comparing the GPA of all NE10 student-athletes on a sport-by-sport basis.
Ferrando Felis, a senior defender, is the first Franklin Pierce player to receive the Elite 24 in men's soccer. He has posted a 3.98 GPA as a health sciences major, as he continues to build upon his impressive resume. Ferrando Felis was named the 2019 NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, the same season where he was honored as a United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American. He started all 19 games in the 2019 season, while helping the Ravens advance to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2011.
Vazquez Kloss, a junior defender, becomes the first women's soccer player at Franklin Pierce to win Elite 24 honors. She has secured a perfect 4.0 GPA as a business management major. Vazquez Kloss has appeared in 22 games during her first two seasons with the Ravens, which included an NE10 Championship in 2018. For four-straight semesters, she has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll.
The league office announced Elite 24 winners in the sports of football and field hockey on Tuesday, with the rest of the fall winners to be recognized this week. Winter winners will be released next week (March 23-26).
ABOUT THE NE10
Beginning its 40th anniversary season, the NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
