By Riann English and Kyle Terwillegar

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Graduate student Alice Hill of the University of Michigan women's cross country team has been named the recipient of one of the highest academic honors in collegiate athletics, the NCAA Elite 90 Award, the association announced Saturday (Nov. 20).

In a presentation during the trophy ceremony for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Hill was named the female award winner for the 2021 women's cross country season and the first in U-M track and field / cross country program history. The Elite 90 award is given annually to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

Hill, an Ann Arbor native now studying ecology and evolutionary biology in her master's studies, joins Michigan's other female winners: Annika Hoffmann (2019, Rowing), Kinsey Vear (2016, Rowing), and Danielle Johnson (2016, Water Polo).

Hill earns this distinct honor by having a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average, which she has earned through graduating with dual majors of neuroscience and ecology, evolution and biodiversity.

During her time as an undergraduate, she was a James B. Angell Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a 2020 Honors Summer Fellow, a research assistant on the Spencer-Segal Lab, and first-author on a review article published in the journal Endocrinology. Hill presented her honors thesis research findings at the Endocrine Society's national annual meeting (ENDO 2021), where she earned Highest Honors and won a Director's Award.

This fall, she has competed in six meets, including the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 29), and at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Nov. 12), where she finished 36th and 33rd, respectively, and came in as the Wolverines' No. 5 runner in both. She also competed for the Wolverines at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, finishing 181st.

A three-time All-American in the indoor distance medley relay, Hill has proven to be an integral member of both the cross country and track and field rosters. She is a Big Ten relay champion, an NCAA Championships qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on the track, and a competing member of multiple NCAA Cross Country Championships rosters.