by Larry Eder
photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
school. My comments were that cross country runners are essentially middle distance and distance runners for the most part, and they juggle workouts, classes, homework, and social lives pretty well. As a former coach, while I do remember checking on some
athletes about studies, for the most part, the cross country athletes, whether they are physics, philosophy, engineers or history majors, they are pretty focused.
My personal experience bears that out. I believe I had the lowest GPA, a 3.2, , in my cross country team, with engineers, physics majors and double science majors. Pat McVeigh, a senior when I was a freshman, was our scholar/athlete of the year. We juggled our workouts around classes and studies and, of course, fun. I do remember writing many a history paper (in my head) during Sunday long runs. Easy days were conducive to mapping out papers. Hard days would take your mind off the unfinished paper on Bernard Lonergan, or the beginnings of Chinese Marxism.
Sheila Reid is a prime example of a focused student/athlete. The Villanova University senior ran a brilliant race at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships on November 22, making her move a decisive one, as she took the lead from Oregon’s Jordan Hasay, holding off Georgetown’s Emily Infield, and also leading the Villanova team to the team title as well. Races like that are obviously won on the windy course that was Terra Haute, Indiana that day, but races are truly won on the morning and evening sessions, day in, day out, juggling studies, workouts and life. That is why university sports, in general, and athletics (cross country, track & field, road racing and race walking) in particular, in my humble opinion, are such life lessons.
Sheila will also now be a candidate for the Honda Broderick Trophy ! (Hats off once again to Villanova’s women’s coach Gina Procaccio, who leads by example.)
For Immediate Release
SHEILA REID, VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY SENIOR, VOTED HONDA AWARD WINNER
AS TOP FEMALE ATHLETE IN CROSS COUNTRY
— Reid is Automatically Nominated for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Award —
December 8, 2010 —
Sheila Reid, a Villanova University senior, has won the 2011 Honda
Sports Award in cross country, designating her as the nation’s top
collegiate female athlete in that sport. The honor was based on the
results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of
the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 35th year.
The
Honda Sports Award is given annually to the top women athletes in 12
NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with automatic eligibility to become a
“Top Three” finalist for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. Sheila
Reid was voted over three other nominees for the 2011 award: Jordan
Hasay, a sophomore at the University of Oregon, Emily Infeld, a junior
at Georgetown University and Risper Kimaiyo, a University of Texas at El
Paso sophomore. The candidates were selected by finish at NCAA Cross
County Championships.
Noted Reid: “It is truly humbling to win
such a prestigious award like the Honda Sports Award. Many great
Villanova runners have earned this honor in the past and to follow in
their footsteps makes it extra special. Villanova has such a great
women’s cross country tradition and the accomplishments of the
incredible women that came before me have paved the road for the current
team to be where we are now. It is also an honor to win the award in a
year where there were three other terrific nominees.”
A native
of Newmarket, Ontario, Reid led her team to an undefeated 2010 season
and its second straight NCAA Championship. She captured her first NCAA
national cross country crown by a two-second margin, the closest finish
in NCAA women’s Division I history. She also took first place two years
in a row at both the Mid-Atlantic Regionals and Big East Cross Country
Championships. She is a five-time All-American as a cross country and
track athlete and this fall was named the cross country National Female
Athlete of the Year, as well as earning Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of
the Year accolades for the second straight season.
Like
many Honda Sports Award winners, Reid is an academic standout in
addition to her excellence in athletics. She is a three-time Big East
Academic All-Star with a 3.261 GPA, majoring in English.
Honda
Award winners in basketball, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse,
soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track
& field will be announced in the coming months. The Collegiate
Woman Athlete of the Year will be determined by separate balloting
involving all NCAA-member institutions. On June 27, 2011, the winner
will receive the Honda-Broderick Cup at a ceremony in New York, at which
the “Top Three” finalist are scheduled to attend.
American Honda
Motor Co., Inc. has sponsored the Collegiate Women Sports Awards
Program for 26 consecutive years. Honda has donated over $2 million in
grants and sponsorships to universities over the course of the program.
# # #
