Eastern Mennonite University senior Abigail Shelly capped an outstanding first season of women’s triathlon by being named Scholar All-American.
The select group of honorees were selected by the College Triathlon Coaches Association.
“This is an incredible honor,” said Shelly (Collinsville, Miss./West Lauderdale). “If this speaks to anything, I believe it is to my coaches and professors, as they have been incredible in the past year as they understood my need to balance and deep-dive into both athletics and academics. The classroom and the field are not mutually exclusive for me, and I’m grateful to go to a school that seems to get that.”
In the first year of EMU sponsoring the sport of triathlon, Shelly quickly excelled. She finished 13th at the National Championship, completing a 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run in 1:19.38.
The CTCA awards the Scholar All-American designation to the top 20 finishers at the National Championship who have a GPA of 3.5 or better.
“Abigail is crazy,” said Coach Bob Hepler. “She serves the community, puts others first, and somehow is able to be a dedicated student and athlete. She is my hero.”
Shelly holds a double major at EMU in Education (English as Second Language Licensure) and Liberal Arts, along with a minor in Honors, and has a 3.97 GPA. She was also the Royals’ top runner on the cross country team.
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