A pair of Salisbury lacrosse seniors - Anna Sparr and Tim Stone - were honored as the Elite 89 award winners at their respective championship banquets on Friday night. 

The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA in 2009, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 89 championships. 

Sparr, a senior from Lexington Park, Md., holds a 3.853 GPA with a major in exercise science along with a minor in Spanish. On the field, the defender has started in four games of the 13 played in, scooping six groundballs and caused two turnovers. 

Stone, an exercise science major, carries a 3.83 GPA, which was the highest among any player in the Division III championship game.

Sparr and Stone's Elite 89 honors are the fourth and fifth ever accomplished by a Capital Athletic Conference and Salisbury student-athlete. Sean Hickey picked up the award for men's lacrosse in 2010 for the first, followed by Haley Quillen this past fall in field hockey and Dan Fein for baseball this spring.