Juniors Laura Kennedy and Leah Smith each placed in the top 15 in last weekends Missouri Valley Conference cross country championships. Apparently the two excel not only on the course, but also in the classroom, as they were named to the Missouri Valley Conference 2003 Womens Scholar-Athlete Team.
Kennedy is a native of Wildwood, Missouri and carries a 3.41 GPA while majoring in family and consumer sciences.
Smith hails from Quincy, Illinois and is a English major with a 3.51 GPA.
Illinois State cross country coach Chris Bailey feels like Kennedy and Smith exemplify what a true student-athlete is supposed to be.
Thats a great honor for Laura and Leah to receive, said Bailey. Those are two girls that work just as hard in the classroom as they do in their workouts, which is why the are successful in both. They kind of set the standard for the types of student-athletes we try to bring to Illinois State.
The Illinois State cross country team has this weekend off before competing in next weekends NCAA Midwest Regionals in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
