HONOLULU – University of Hawai'i offensive lineman Eliki Tanuvasa  has been selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 8 Team, the organization announced Thursday. After earning the district honor, he is now eligible for Academic All-America accolades, which will be announced later this season.
 
The junior offensive lineman from Honolulu, boasts a 3.98 grade point average, majoring in communication. Tanuvasaa started his career at Eastern Illinois, where he earned FCS Freshman All-America honors before returning home to O'ahu as a walk-on. After primarily serving as a reserve lineman and special teams player in his first few seasons, he has taken a more prominent role in 2021, starting five games at guard. As a starter he helped pave a rushing game that ws averaging its most yards since 1995.

Tanuvasa is a two-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete and earned academic all-Mountain West honors in 2020. He is the first Rainbow Warrior to earn academic all-district honors since long snapper Noah Borden in 2018. The district is comprised of NCAA institutions in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Canada, covering most of the schools in the Mountain West and Pac-12.
 
In order to be eligible for the all-District and All-America awards, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale) at his current institution and have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.