Springfield, Ohio — For the second year in a row, Wittenberg University men's golf standout Jordan Millice, class of 2012 from Cable, Ohio, kicked off the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Tournament by earning perhaps the most significant individual honor scheduled to be awarded this week.

Millice, who currently has a 3.91 cumulative grade point average while studying business at Wittenberg, won the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Elite 88 Award, for the second straight year at a championship banquet on Monday, May 9. The NCAA hands out an Elite 88 Award to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals site for each of the association's 88 championships each year.

Millice has been a key player for the 16th-ranked Tigers, who successfully defended their 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship with a 29-stroke victory over Ohio Wesleyan in the 2011 NCAC Championship Series. Millice, who has shot the second-lowest round (68) in program history twice in his career, posted six top-15 finishes in his nine 2010-11 tournaments.

For the season, Millice has a stroke average of 77.9, and he earned his first All-NCAC designation after finishing in a tie for ninth place in the Championship Series. He placed 92nd at last year's NCAA Division III Tournament, hosted by Elizabethtown College at Hershey Links and Hershey Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Away from the course, Millice is active in Wittenberg's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and serves as president of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. In addition, he received the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Prize for Excellence in Business at last month's Honors Convocation.

Each championship's Elite 88 Award is presented in an effort to "recognize 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." Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school.

Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Erin Pence

031-11