Jani Lane Honored with NCAA Elite 89 Award

ALLENDALE, Mich. — Michigan Tech track and field student-athlete Jani Lane (Anchorage, Alaska) was honored with the prestigious NCAA Elite 89 Award at tonight's pre-NCAA Championship social on Grand Valley State's campus.

Lane is Tech's lone qualifier for the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championship. He is scheduled to race in the prelims of the 1,500 tomorrow (May 21).

The NCAA Elite 89 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 89 championships. Lane boasts a cumulative grade point average of 3.94 in mechanical engineering—tops of the roughly 400 men at the championship.

"This is a great honor for Jani and our program," said Tech coach Joe Haggenmiller. "He really is a true student-athlete who has been able to focus and excel in both academics and training.

"He's a great representative for Michigan Tech, and we look forward to hopefully two more days of racing."

Lane seeks All-America honors for the second straight season after he placed seventh at last year's NCAA Championship. He owns the eighth-best seed time of the 19 competitors entering the event. The field for the 1,500 will be split into two preliminary races. They are scheduled to be run at 5:25 p.m. tomorrow (May 21). Fans can watch a free stream of the championships on NCAA.com.

The finals of the 1,500 will be run at approximately 2:25 p.m. on Saturday (May 23).

Note: Lane is the third Elite 89 Award winner in Michigan Tech history. Women's basketball players Sarah Stream and Angela Guisfredi had the top GPA at the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Elite Eights, respectively.