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LOUISVILLE - East Stroudsburg University senior back Sydney McCarthy is the recipient of the Elite 90 Award for the 2017 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship, it was announced Thursday night at the Final Four banquet held at Churchill Downs, site of the Kentucky Derby.

McCarthy (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg), an Exercise Science major, has a 4.0 GPA through 105 credits at ESU.

She was previously named the Elite 90 recipient in 2015, prior to ESU's first national championship in program history.

The PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year, McCarthy has helped ESU to a 17-4 record and No. 2 national seed entering Friday morning's 10 a.m. semifinal vs. Shippensburg.

She has 10 goals and 11 assists for a team-leading 31 points. She has a hand in 21 of ESU's 65 goals while helping the Warriors allow just 21 goals defensively.

McCarthy is the last remaining starter from ESU's 2015 national championship team, starting all 63 games over the last three seasons. She was named All-PSAC second team in the midfield as a junior and has 17 career goals and 18 assists.

Two weeks ago, she was named the PSAC "Champion Scholar" for the second straight year.

The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, 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 standing among his or her peers.

The Elite 90 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 who have participated in their sport for at least two years with the school. They must be an active member of the team, traveling and a designated member of the squad size at the championship. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.

For more information on the Elite 90 Award winners, log on to NCAA.com/elite-90.