Case Western Reserve University graduate student Ansh Shah is the recipient of the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship.
Shah, a medical school student at CWRU, carried a 4.0 cumulative grade point average as an undergraduate student at the University. He was presented with the award prior to the start of the Spartans' quarterfinal match against Denison University on Tuesday morning at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Elite Scholar-Athlete award recognizes the true essence of student-athletes by honoring the individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite Scholar-Athlete award 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 academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken based on the number of credits completed.
For more information on the Elite Scholar-Athlete award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.org/elitescholarathlete.
This is the fifth-straight season and the sixth time overall that a CWRU men's tennis player has won the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award (formerly the Elite 90 Award), as Shah joined Derek Reinbold (2014), Sahil Dayal (2022, 2023, 2024), and Ajay Mahenthiran (2025) as the program's all-time recipients. He became the second CWRU student-athlete this academic year to be honored (along with men's swimmer William Froass) and the 16th overall in the department's history (the seventh among all NCAA schools and third among Division III programs).
Athletically, Shah returned to the court as a graduate student this year after missing the entire spring of his senior year due to injury to make a massive impact on the squad, earning all-University Athletic Association First Team acclaim for his play at no. 4 singles. He is 11-2 overall this season in singles matches with an 8-2 mark in no. 4 singles matches, and stands at 85-24 overall in singles play during his career. Shah is currently the 19th-ranked singles player in the Central Region.
Shah's play has helped the fifth-ranked Spartans go 28-8 overall and reach the NCAA quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive season. CWRU will face fourth-ranked Denison in the NCAA quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 19, at 11:00 a.m. in Chattanooga.
