Three of EMU’s women’s triathlon athletes were named Scholar All-Americans by the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association and USA Triathlon.
Elizabeth Miller (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold), Allison Shelly (Collinsville, Miss./West Lauderdale) and Vanessa Gardiner (Springfield, Va./John R. Lewis) were each named to the select group.
Shelly and Miller, both upperclassmen, were already members of the Royals’ running program, while Gardiner was in her first year at Eastern Mennonite. All three were participating in the sport of triathlon for the first time.
“I love how fearless these women are,” said Coach Bob Hepler. “None of this year’s team had ever done a triathlon before. They never hesitated. Some people may say that is unwise. I say…look at their GPAs! They must be smart.”
This Scholar All-American award is presented to student-athletes who have achieved a GPA of 3.5 or higher for the spring 2021 semester (regardless of competitions completed in that timeframe).
The Eastern Mennonite University women’s triathlon program is in its second year of existence. The NCAA named triathlon an Emerging Sport for Women in 2014, a designation that gives the sport a 10-year window to demonstrate sustainability at the NCAA level. Thirty-seven colleges and universities across the country currently sponsor the sport at the varsity level.
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