FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Four Fall Student-Athletes at Franklin Pierce Have Won 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. Franklin Pierce's Riley Fenoff and Alena Masterson are the latest to earn Elite 24 honors, representing the sports of men's and women's cross country for the second-straight year.
The Elite 24 Award recognizes 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.
Fenoff, a junior runner, is a repeat winner of the Elite 24 in men's cross country with a 4.0 GPA in psychology. During the 2019 season, he earned the honor with the same academic credentials. As a sophomore, Fenoff was named NE10 Second Team All-Conference and an USTFCCCA All-East Region performer after five meets with the Ravens. Additionally, he was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District I First Team and the NE10 Academic All-Conference squad.
Masterson, a junior runner, is also a repeat winner of the Elite 24 in women's cross country with a perfect 4.0 GPA in communications. She won the honor during the 2019 season with the same credentials. As a sophomore, Masterson competed in four events for the Ravens. She has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll in all five of her collegiate semesters. Masterson was part of the NE10 NOW: The Podcast earlier this academic year.
Fenoff and Masterson become just the fourth and fifth NE10 student-athletes to earn multiple Elite 24 honors in their careers. The other three are Adelphi's Alyssa Muller, Le Moyne's Eva Keohane and Southern Connecticut's Troy Stegman.
Franklin Pierce had a league-best four student-athletes earn the prestigious Elite 24 Award this week – tying Merrimack (fall of 2018) for the most Elite 24 winners in one season of competition since the award's inception in 2018-19.
The league office will recognize Elite 24 Award winners for winter sports next week, beginning on Tuesday (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.
