BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) recognized some of its best and brightest student-athletes with the announcement of the Elite 22 Awards for winter sports. Carleton College's Jackson Rankin and Hailey Westrup received the accolades for men's and women's swimming & diving, respectively.
 
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 their sport while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. Modeled after the NCAA Elite Scholar-Athlete Award (formerly 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 swimming & diving, the winner is the individual with the highest GPA who was named All-Conference. Now, 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 at current institutions.
 
Rankin earned a pair of All-Conference honors at the 2026 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships, winning the conference title in the 200 fly (1:51.56) and placing second in the 100 fly (50.05). An economics and mathematics double-major, Rankin has a 3.97 GPA at Carleton.
 
Westrup picked up two All-MIAC accolades by finishing as the conference runner-up in both the 1-meter (449.75) and 3-meter (473.65) diving events at the MIAC Championships. Westrup has a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in chemistry at Carleton.

This marks the first time since the inception of the MIAC's Elite 22 Award that Carleton swept both the men's and women's award for the same sport.

Carleton Elite 22 Award Winners

Year	Sport	Recipient	GPA	Class
2013-14	Men's Soccer	Simon Ginet	3.95	Sr.
2014-15	Men's Tennis	Patton McClelland	3.91	So.
2015-16	Women's Indoor Track & Field	Reilly Simon	3.96	Sr.
2017-18	Women's Golf	Ziyi Wang	3.94	Jr.
2018-19	Women's Golf	Abby Euyang	3.96	So.
2018-19	Men's Soccer	David Rubin	4.00	So.
2018-19	Men's Indoor Track & Field	Tris Dodge	3.95	Sr.
2019-20	Men's Swimming & Diving	Jack Heinzel	3.93	Jr.
2021-22	Men's Cross Country	Stephen Lavey	3.97	Sr.
2021-22	Men's Swimming & Diving	Josh Wu	4.00	So.
2025-26	Men's Swimming & Diving	Jackson Rankin	3.96	Jr.
2025-26	Women's Swimming & Diving	Hailey Westrup	4.00	Jr.