Sept. 7, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - The NCAA announced Friday that former Mizzou cross country and track & field student-athlete Sunny Gilbert as one of 10 finalists selected for the 2001 NCAA Woman of the Year award. The Woman of the Year award is one of the most prestigious awards a student-athlete can receive. It recognizes outstanding achievements in the areas of athletics, academics and community service. NCAA athletes from all three divisions are eligible for the award.
"In her own way, Sunny exemplifies all the qualities we strive to have and uphold at the University of Missouri," University of Missouri Athletic Director Michael Alden said. "She has shown academic integrity, social responsibility and competitive intensity in her years at Missouri and beyond."
Gilbert, a native of St. Louis, Mo., was a 2001 NCAA national indoor champion in the distance medley relay and holds the distance medley relay record at Mizzou and the in the Big 12. She also holds the outdoor school records for the 4x800-meter and 4x400-meter relays. She finished 11th at the NCAA outdoor championships in 2000 and was the two-time Drake Relays Champion in the 4x800-meter relay. In 2000, the team placed fifth in the Big 12 Conference outdoor championship and 16th in the NCAA cross country championship.
An NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, and a biochemistry major, she was granted a Bright Flight scholarship, a Curator's scholarship and a Howard Hughes fellowship for research in biochemistry. She was a Big 12 Conference All-Academic first-team pick for cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field and was named the 2001 Natasha Kaiser-Brown Outstanding Female Athlete Award honoree. Gilbert also was chosen for the U.S. Track Coaches Association Academic All-American indoor and outdoor track & field teams three times.
"Sunny is the absolute epitome of all that we desire in and from a student-athlete," University of Missouri Track & Field head coach Rick McGuire said. "Sunny has extraordinary personal characteristics that support her in her quest to achieve excellence and personal success. She understands and applies a work ethic of patient, persistent and consistent effort.
"When challenges are difficult, she responds with a tenacious, unyielding stubbornness that doesn't quit until the task is done, and done right. But when the time of achievement is reached, she enjoys and savors the richness of personal satisfaction, fulfillment and pride."
Gilbert is a two-time All-American, a three-time Academic All-American and an 11-time All-Big 12 selection. She graduated from the University of Missouri in May 2001 with a degree in biochemistry and is currently working on her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Other finalists for the 2001 award are: Kimberly A. Black, University of Georgia (swimming and diving), Camille Cooper, Purdue University (Ind.) (basketball), Andrea Dutoit, University of Arizona (cross country and track), Kameelah Taliah Elarms, University of California-Davis (track), Kristen English, Swarthmore College (Penn.) (field hockey, basketball, lacrosse), K. Elizabeth Flynt, University of Tennesee (swimming and diving), Angie Oxley, University of Nebraska (volleyball), Claire Cunanan Reyes, Longwood College (Va.) (field hockey), and Toby Wilmet, Washington College (Md.) (field hockey, softball). The winner will be announced Oct. 21 at a banquet in Indianapolis, Ind.