By: Doug Ireland, NSU SID
NATCHITOCHES -- Trecey Rew's fantastic summer got even better Thursday, when the Northwestern State national champion discus thrower was named the NCAA Division I Field Events Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Rew, who wrapped up her collegiate career in June, was also joined by Lady Demon sophomore javelin thrower Carrie Lantrip among 663 women recognized as USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees for exemplary academic and competitive accomplishment.
Villanova distance runner Sheila Reid, the NCAA 1500 and 5000 meter champion, was named the USTFCCCA Outdoor Women's Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Oregon's Jordan Hasay, who won the NCAA mile and 3000 meter titles indoors, was the Indoor Women's Track Scholar-Athlete winner while Arizona's Brigetta Barrett, winner of both the indoor and outdoor NCAA high jump crowns in 2011, was the Indoor Women's Field Events Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Rew won the NCAA discus title with a school record 192-4 throw June 8. She also earned second-team All-America honors in the shot put by finishing 15th at the 2011 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
After graduating in May 2010 with a 3.86 grade point average in broadcast journalism, Rew has posted a perfect 4.0 in her first year pursuing a master's degree in sport administration.
Lantrip, a Ruston native who finished third in the javelin at the Southland Outdoor Championships, has a 3.57 GPA in psychology. She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and placed 27th of 48 qualifiers for the East Preliminary Round with her second-best throw of the spring, 142-10. Her season's best was 145-9.
In June, Rew was voted to the Capital One Academic All-America Track and Cross Country Team as a second-team Academic All-America selection. She was listed on one of three 15-woman teams chosen by a College Sports Information Directors of America panel.
Rew earned the 13th Academic All-America Award by an NSU student-athlete since 1986. It is the first won by an NSU track and field competitor in what is traditionally one of the toughest Academic All-America teams to make. A third of the 45 women honored, 15, have perfect 4.0 GPAs, including seven on the first team.
Voting for Academic All-America is done by a national CoSIDA committee, which considers first-team All-District winners from eight regions around the nation.
The Garland, Texas native is the first Lady Demon to capture a national title. She gave the Northwestern track and field program its third NCAA crown and first since 1990.
Rew swept the Southland Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year honors. She finished her career with eight individual Southland titles, winning the conference Field Event Athlete of the Year award in the final three SLC championships she entered.
She is a three-time All-America recipient in the sport by virtue of her finishes in the shot put and discus at the last two NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was ninth in the 2010 NCAA meet in the shot put.
The school and Southland Conference record holder in both events, she has personal bests of 192-4 in the discus and 57-0 ¼ in the shot. Competing against some of the world's top competitors in late June at the USA Track and Field Championships, Rew finished seventh in the discus and 15th in the shot put.
Rew will remain in graduate school at NSU and will train for international competition heading into the 2012 Olympic year.
