Runners are true 'student-athletes'

Running upward of 50 to 60 miles on a weekly basis does not leave much time to perform other activities. But members of the IU women's cross country team have balanced both academics and running by staying true to the phrase coined by the NCAA -- student-athlete.\nLast season, seniors Audrey Giesler, Allyson Hammond, Becky Obrecht, and Heidi Crowley, juniors Mindy Peterson and Julie Shields, and sophomores Ashley Groth and Larra Overton all received Academic All-Big Ten Honors. In addition to earning Academic All-Big Ten Honors, Giesler received recognition in the form of Verizon Academic All-District and All-American honors, along with receiving IU's Tichenor Medal, which is awarded to the female student-athlete with the top grade point average.\nIU coach Judy Wilson said Giesler is her first runner to perform to her fullest potential both in the classroom and on the cross country course. Giesler, who earned first-team All-Big Ten Honors last season, said as a student-athlete she makes sacrifices, such as not going out at night in order to succeed in the classroom and on the cross country course.\n"If I didn't care so much about getting eight hours of sleep, I could probably be less structured with how I spend my time," Giesler said. "I just try to be as productive as I can during the day, so I can still relax at night and feel fresh for work-outs, etc."\nWhen Peterson came to IU, she was not sure what she wanted to study. Peterson discovered the Liberal Arts and Management Program, and after seeking knowledge from several practicing dentists, Peterson decided that she wanted to pursue dentistry.\nThe LAMP is a collaborative concept between IU's College of Arts and Sciences and the Kelley School of Business. The two schools created a unique, three-year curriculum that allows exceptional undergraduates to combine their liberal arts background with specialized business training.\n"The one thing that they all said was that if they could do it over, they would like to know more about business," Peterson said. "While they all felt prepared to be dentists, it was not until they started their own dental practice that they realized that they were running a business."\nPeterson said good time-management skills are needed to be a successful student-athlete because it seems as though every minute of the day is accounted for.\n"The main thing that I do is I make sure that between classes, I do homework or study all the time," Peterson said. "This cuts down on that load that you have when you get home later that night. Just keeping track of when everything is due and what is expected of you also helps."\nWilson, who earned the Scholastic Achievement Award in 1987 while running cross country for IU, said the main thing that helps her with keeping her runners successful in the classroom is that the team starts with students that have established themselves as high achievers in the classroom when they join the team. Wilson also said she uses the team concept by asking her runners where their GPA ranks among their teammates in order to raise the team's overall GPA.\n"If I see somebody come out of high school and they had a 4.0, and they come here and got a 2.8, I'm going to wonder what's going on," Wilson said. "Now, sure they are fine to practice, but I am going to want to know exactly what is going on because I guarantee you that if their grades aren't going well, something else is wrong too and their running is probably not going to go well. I think both go very much hand-in-hand."\n-- Contact staff writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.