ELMHURST, Ill. - It is a large accomplishment for a student-athlete to be named their sport's recipient of the CCIW Elite 26 Award, which marks the highest achieving student-athlete at each year's conference championship events. However, it's not often when three different student-athletes from the same institution earn the honor on the same day.

That is what Jonathan Zapinski, Esther Brown, and Marvin Tchangwa did last Saturday, Feb. 25. All three athletes were tabbed as their sport's respective Elite 26 award winners a mere hours apart, in two different cities and two separate events.

Jonathan Zapinski was tabbed as the CCIW men's basketball recipient of the Elite 26 award for a second-consecutive year. The senior forward/ center from Southlake, Texas earns his second Elite 26 honor after maintaining a 3.963 cumulative GPA in his time at Elmhurst. Zapinski is a double-major in both Accounting and Finance, and has won numerous academic awards in his time as a Bluejay including the 2022 NCAA Elite 90 award and being honored as a College Sport Communicators Academic All-District selection in 2023. The senior was also 2023 second team all-CCIW recipient, and holds the Elmhurst record for blocks in a career (165) and a season (85 in 2022-23).

Esther Brown was named the conference's Elite 26 award recipient in women's track at the 2023 CCIW Indoor Track and Field Championships last Saturday, Feb. 25. A sophomore from Geneseo, Ill., Brown maintains a 4.0 GPA as a pre-nursing major at Elmhurst University, and was an all-conference honoree in the 800-meter, mile run, and women's distance medley relay after placing fourth, fifth, and first in each event, respectively. Brown set new personal-bests in the 800-meter (2:24.68) and 3000-meter (10:52.51) at last weekend's conference championship event.

Marvin Tchangwa was named the conference's Elite 26 award recipient in men's track at last weekend's conference championships held in Bloomington, Ill. A sophomore from Englefield Green, England, Tchangwa owns a 4.0 GPA as a biochemistry major on a pre-medical track at Elmhurst. Last weekend, Tchangwa placed ninth in both the men's 800-meter and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay. 

Modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 program, the CCIW Elite 26 is presented to the student-athlete who excels academically and athletically at the conference level in each of the CCIW's 26 sponsored sports. 

To be eligible for the Elite 26 Award, a student-athlete must be a sophomore, junior, or senior and in at least their second season of competition with their current team. Graduate students are not eligible. For sports where an individual is awarded all-conference honors at the conference championship (M&W cross country, M&W golf, M&W swimming & diving, M&W track & field, wrestling), the first team all-conference recipient with the highest GPA will receive the award. For sports that compete in a conference tournament (baseball, M&W basketball, bowling, M&W lacrosse, softball, M&W tennis, M&W volleyball), the student-athlete with the highest GPA from the first or second place team in the conference tournament will receive the award.

FOLLOW THE BLUEJAYS

Be sure to keep up with all Elmhurst University Athletics content by following the Bluejays on Twitter (@elmhurstbluejay), Facebook (Elmhurst University Athletics) and Instagram (@elmhurstbluejays), and tune in to elmhurstbluejays.com for the latest news and information.