ANGOLA, Ind. – Emma Lee, a senior at Trine University, has received the Elite Scholar-Athlete award for the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

Lee, an Elementary Education/Special Education Dual Licensure major, finishes her senior year with a 4.0 GPA. She was presented with the award during the championship banquet held on Tuesday, May 27 in Salem, Va.

The senior is the first member of the Trine University softball team to earn the award. She joins Evan Lumbrezer of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship winning team, as the second Thunder student-athlete to win the award in the past three years.

It was a big day for the Cottage Grove, Wis. native, who earned NFCA All-American honors for the first time in her career earlier in the afternoon. Lee has been a standout on and off the field for the Thunder over the past four seasons but saved her best for last. In addition to continuing excellence defensively in center field, she has taken her hitting to another level. This season she has career bests in RBIs, hits, slugging percentage and home runs, sitting top 20 nationally in six different categories.

The Elite Scholar-Athlete award, formerly known as the Elite 90 award, recognizes the true essence of student-athletes by honoring the individuals who have 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 Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.

Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken based on the number of credits completed.

For more information on the Elite Scholar-Athlete award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.org/elitescholarathlete.