COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College cross country seniors Katie Culliton (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) and Swapnil Jhajharia (Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, India/Woodstock School) were introduced as Northeast-10 Conference Elite 24 Award winners on Sunday after the NE10 Championship at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. The Elite 24 Award honors student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at a finals site. The pair are the first Purple Knights to win the accolade for cross country.
 
Culliton and Jhajharia bring the number of Saint Michael's Elite 24 Award winners to four since the laurel was established for the 2018-19 school year, joining women's lacrosse's Ashley Turner '21 (2020) and men's ice hockey David Ciancio '25 (2022-23).
 
Culliton, an elementary education and equity studies double major carrying a 4.0 GPA, has been a standout on the course and in the classroom throughout her career. The senior captain was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Regional All-Region honoree last fall and has been in the Purple Knights' top six at every race this year, helping Saint Michael's to top-three finishes at all six meets, including while placing third at the NE10 Championship. Culliton earned a College Sports Communicators All-District accolade as a junior to go along with two NE10 Academic All-Conference nods among 11 career academic awards.
 
Jhajharia, who is majoring in both psychology and statistics, also holds a 4.0 GPA. He has appeared in five of the Purple Knights' six meets this year, including running his second career NE10 Championship on Sunday, when he posted his second-best time of the fall. Jhajharia has earned a pair of Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Awards while qualifying for the NE10 Academic Honor Roll three times.