FRISCO,
Texas - North Dakota State wide receiver Daniel Polansky won the NCAA
Elite 90 Award presented Friday, Jan. 5, at the NCAA Division I Football
Championship banquet at the Frisco Conference Center.
The award
is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative
grade-point average at each of the NCAA's 90 national championships.
Polansky, a senior from Gatzke, Minn., had a 4.0 GPA and graduated in
December with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
An
award founded by the NCAA, the Elite 90 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.
"I definitely learned a lot about time management
trying to balance football, school, and also working part-time,"
Polansky said. "My strategy was to get done with what I needed to get
done, then try and have fun."
Polansky, an all-state performer
for Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke in Minnesota nine-man football, is in his
fifth year with the NDSU football program. A mainstay on the special
teams units, he has played in 26 career games and has made five
receptions in his 13 games this year for the Bison.
He worked
about 15 hours per week at John Deere Electronic Solutions, where he
will continue to put his NDSU degree to work. Polansky will stay on
with the company as an electronic design engineer after the Bison play
for their sixth FCS national championship.
No. 2 seed North
Dakota State (13-1) faces top-seeded defending national champion James
Madison (14-0) in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at 11
a.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at Toyota Stadium live on ESPN2.
NDSU's Elite 90 Award Winners
2011 - Amy Anderson, women's golf
2011 - Whitney Carlson, women's outdoor track and field
2013 - Esley Thorton, football
2014 - Carson Wentz, football
2015 - Carson Wentz, football
2016 - Carson Wentz, football
2016 - Clay Ream, wrestling
2017 - Clay Ream, wrestling
2018 - Daniel Polansky, football
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