Emory University junior Kyle Monk has been honored as the recipient of the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 Award for Division III Baseball late Thursday night. The award is given to the top athlete who has reached the National Championship in their respective sport and who also excels in the classroom. Monk is the first ever recipient of the award, male or female, in the history of the Emory Athletics program.

The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

Monk, a Quantitative Social Science & Economics major who is also minoring in Mathematics, owns a cumulative 3.953 grade-point average in his three years on the Emory campus. Earlier this season, Monk was honored by being named a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for the first time in his career.

On the baseball diamond, Monk has been a fixture for the Eagles this season, helping Emory reach the College World Series for the third straight season. In 2016, Monk has posted a 4-3 record with 11 saves and a 1.24 earned-run average this season and currently owns the second longest scoreless streak for the Eagles this season at 23.1 consecutive innings.

On Thursday morning, Monk was named a D3baseball.com Honorable Mention All-American in addition to being selected to the D3baseball.com All-South Region First Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-South Region Second Team earlier this week. Last Tuesday, Monk added University Athletic Association First Team accolades to his ever-growing resume as well.

Monk and the Eagles begin their quest for the first ever national championship in the history of the Emory baseball program with a meeting against top-ranked SUNY-Cortland tomorrow at 10:00 AM CT at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisc.