BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - IUP's Maddie Griffin earned the 2026 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Softball Champion Scholar Award, the conference office announced on Wednesday prior to IUP's first game at the 2026 PSAC Softball Championship in Grand Slam Park in Binghamton, N.Y.

Griffin, who hails from Ligonier, Pa., is a graduate student with 150 undergraduate credits.  She earned an undergraduate degree in accounting with a minor in economics and is currently pursuing an MBA. She has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and is earning this award for the second consecutive season.

The PSAC Champion Scholar Awards are modeled after the NCAA's Elite Scholar-Athlete Award (formerly Elite 90 Award) and honor the student-athlete with the top grade point average who is competing at the site of each of the PSAC's finals sites. The selection criteria for the Champion Scholar Awards is identical to that of the NCAA Elite Scholar-Athlete Awards, which honor the student-athlete with the top GPA at each of the championship finals sites of the 90 NCAA championships across all three divisions – I, II, and III.