Feb. 21, 2001

By Josh Murray

Missouri senior Sunny Gilbert has a tough act to follow. After becoming an All-American last year in the 800 meter run and being named an Academic All-American, she enters her final season at MU with still more she wants to accomplish.

The Cape Girardeau native says her goal for this year is to "go one step further than I've gone before. I want to work a little bit harder, run a little bit faster."

She takes that same determination and work ethic from the track into the classroom as well. "The discipline that I have on the track puts itself into the academics because you have to make sure that get you homework done," Gilbert said. "Since we compete nine months out of the year, you really don't have a time when your not in season, so you have to stay disciplined."

That disciplined landed her on the Academic All-American last year, a honor that Gilbert says is better than any other she has received.

"To me it means a little more because it's like you took All-American one step further," she said. "Not only do you compete in athletics at a very high level, but you also combine academic standards that are pretty high as well."

That doesn't mean that the All-American award doesn't mean much to her.

"The All-American award has always been a goal," Gilbert said. "It's obviously one of those awards that you recognize as being a big deal. It's always something that you strive for. I started last season thinking that this is going to be the best season I've had."

As she is now in her senior season as a Tiger, she thinks this will be her best season that she has had. She has taken a new role this year-that of a senior leader.

"The freshman look up to you, everybody looks to you to set the pace. You have to know what your doing and everybody follows what you do. I've always been kind of a leader by example and I hope that I set a good example for the younger ones."

Gilbert know the importance of being a team player, even in track which is mostly an individual sport.

"When you do race it is an individual thing," she said. "It means a lot more when you have someone pulling for you, having the rest of the team there pulling for you and cheering for you. When you have someone calling your name out as you head into the homestretch, hearing a `Go Sunny,' you think `I can do it, and someone else thinks I can.' Teammates are like fans and they're always on your side."

Gilbert has set several goals for herself, on and off the track. She will graduate in May and will enter graduate school to pursue her Ph.D. in biochemistry.

"That's something I've been interested in and it's something I like to do. I like to work in the lab and get the hands-on experience and then applying the knowledge that I have to problems in society.'

No matter where she winds up professionally, there's one thing Gilbert is sure will never change: her passion for running.

"Running is always going to be part of my life. It never leaves you blood. It gets in you and stays. You can't let go and it won't let you go."

Speaking of not letting go, Gilbert says she will never let go of the memories that she has from her experiences at Missouri.

"I will remember being part of something big. I've been able to do things as part of this track team that are greater than what I could have done alone. There has been some great memories."

And if she is able to take it a step further as she said, then expect even greater memories to come out of her senior season.