Among The Elite – University of North Carolina Athletics

The following story appears in the most recent issue of Born & Bred – a magazine shared as a benefit to Rams Club members who support Carolina student-athletes. For more information on how you can support our student-athletes, visit www.RamsClub.com.

 

 

By Andrew Stilwell
 
 

At Carolina, the term “student-athlete” carries some additional weight. Not only do student-athletes for Carolina’s 28 varsity sports excel on the playing field, they also are faced with the rigorous academic course load that comes when you attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While many Carolina athletes excel in both realms, men’s track & field and cross country runner Will Coogan and men’s lacrosse midfielder PJ Zinsner can truly be considered “best of the best,” as two of Carolina’s most recent winners of the Elite 90 award.
 
In 2010, the NCAA established the award, which is given to recognize the true essence of the student-athlete. The award honors the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite 90 is presented each year to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.
 
In practice, it’s the ideal award for a Carolina student-athlete to win, because not only does it focus on a championship pedigree, but also excellence in the classroom. Since the award’s inception, a Tar Heel has won the award 15 times, good for third most of any NCAA Division I athletic program, and more than double the total of any other ACC member institution.
 
For both Coogan, a junior majoring in biology, and Zinsner, a senior double majoring in economics and math, the commitment to academics comes with the territory of being a student athlete at Carolina.
 
“I think the great opportunity of coming to a school like Carolina humbled me a little bit and I want to take full advantage of that,” said Coogan. “I wanted to learn how to adjust my lifestyle, so I could continue to try to work hard, to accomplish some goals that I wanted to do in school.”
 
“I started really taking academics seriously in high school,” Zinsner added. “I knew that if I wanted to play for a top program like Carolina, I had to be…