Western Wayne Today

The 48th annual Wayne State University Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held on October 25, 2024, at The Eastern in Detroit. Among the inductees honored was Ellyson Maleski, a notable figure in the university's swimming program.

Ellyson Maleski, who competed as a swimmer for four years from 2013 to 2016, earned recognition as a 16-time All-American, including receiving 14 First Team All-American certificates. Her academic achievements were equally impressive; she became the first student-athlete from WSU to be named a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, securing Second Team accolades for three consecutive years by 2016.

During her tenure at WSU, Maleski excelled at the NCAA Championships. She achieved First Team honors each year in the 200 free relay and contributed to winning a national title in this event in 2014 while setting an NCAA Division II record. She also received First Team All-American status three times each in the 400 medley relay, the 400 free relay, and the 100 backstroke events. Additionally, she was part of the team that finished as national runner-up in the 200 medley relay in 2014.

Maleski played a significant role in leading her team to back-to-back national runner-up finishes in both 2013 and 2014. Her efforts also helped secure a fifth-place finish for her team in 2015 and seventh place in 2016. Throughout her collegiate career, WSU won the GLIAC title every year she participated.

Her individual accomplishments include winning seven titles at the GLIAC Championships across various relays and securing an individual title in the 100 backstroke in 2015. Notably consistent throughout her career, Maleski placed within the top three of this event all four years at GLIACs.

Academically, Maleski majored with honors in Biomedical Engineering and maintained a spot on the Academic Honor Roll throughout all eight semesters of her studies. This included being on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll seven times with two perfect semester GPAs of 4.0.

In recognition of her academic excellence alongside athletic prowess, she received multiple awards: notably winning both the Deans' Award from WSU's College of Engineering for achieving the highest cumulative GPA among student-athletes and earning GLIAC Commissioner's Award honors for outstanding academic and athletic performance during her time at university.