Nate Cunningham of Wayne State College repeated as the NSIC Elite 18 Award for baseball as he was honored prior to the Wildcats' opening round game in the NSIC Baseball Tournament Wednesday evening in Sioux Falls, South Dakota against Minnesota Duluth.  It's the second time in the nine-year history of the award that a Wayne State baseball player has been honored as the top scholar athlete in NSIC baseball as Cunningham joins Aaron Ras who won the award in 2019 and 2020.   
            As part of the NSIC 25th Anniversary celebration during the 2016-17 academic year, the NSIC Elite 18 Award was instituted to recognize the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the NSIC Championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The NSIC Elite 18 award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 Championships.
            Cunningham is a junior majoring in business finance and international business and holds a 4.00 grade point average.  The Elkhorn native has started in 15 games of the 26 played with a .333 batting average after 19 hits in 57 at bats.  He owns a .684 slugging percentage with six home runs, 12 RBI and a pair of doubles with 14 runs scored. 
            Wayne State is 29-20 on the season and finished third place in the NSIC with a 25-15 league mark.  The 'Cats are the #3 seed for the NSIC Baseball Tournament and will face #6 seed Minnesota Duluth Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. in the opening round.