BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) recognized some of its best and brightest spring-sport student-athletes on Tuesday with the announcement of the Elite 22 Awards and Gustavus's Kaya De Bruijn and Gage Gohl earned the awards for tennis.

The MIAC Elite 22 Award recognizes the true essence of the term "student-athlete" by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. Modeled after the NCAA Elite 90 Award, the MIAC Elite 22 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average (GPA) in each sport who meets similarly high, sport-specific athletic requirements.

In all sports with MIAC team playoff tournaments, including tennis, baseball, and softball, the MIAC Elite 22 Award is presented to the individual with the highest GPA on the active postseason roster of a playoff-qualifying team. In championship meet sports, including outdoor track & field, the winner is the individual with the highest GPA who was named All-Conference. Each winner must be a junior or senior and in at least their second full academic year at their current institution. Ties are broken by the number of credits earned.

De Bruijn (Jr. | Maasland, Netherlands | Stedelijk Gymnasium) enjoyed a banner season on the court that began with winning the ITA Midwest regional doubles title and will conclude this weekend in the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Doubles Championships. One-half of the 2024-25 MIAC Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Year, De Bruin went 20-5 in doubles play and 17-8 in singles action this season. Named to the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District Team earlier this month, De Bruijn has a 4.0 grade point average at Gustavus while majoring in geology and environmental studies.

Gohl (Jr. | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Lincoln) began the 2024-25 men's tennis season by clinching the ITA Midwest regional singles championship and will defend his NCAA Division III doubles national championship later this week in the national individual tournament. Gohl was 11-7 in singles dual matches throughout the season and 14-7 atop the doubles lineup. He has a 3.97 GPA as a communication studies and sport management major at Gustavus.