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LINCOLN
UNIVERSITY, PA. (September 12, 2007) – Lincoln University of Pennsylvania
senior track and field standout Ashley Parker (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville)
has been named one of the nine finalists for the prestigious NCAA Woman of
the Year award.
According to the NCAA, Parker is the first female student-athlete from a
Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to be named a finalist for
this award. Parker was chosen as a finalist from a list of 30 semifinalists.
The winner will be announced during the annual NCAA Woman of the Year banquet
in Indianapolis on Saturday October 27.
“I am speechless,” Parker said upon learning she was one of the nine finalists.
“I just know that I am blessed. I give all honor and praise to God because
right now, words can’t explain how I feel.”
In addition to Parker, the other finalists include Shauneen Garraham (Amherst
College), Felicia Guilford (University of Tennessee), Ana Gutierrez (Seattle),
Jessica Jarelet (Louisville), Whitney Myers (Arizona), Debbie Sharnak (Vassar),
Sarah Shearman (Truman State) and Jamie Wolf (Clarion). The top three finishers
from each of the three NCAA Divisions have been named finalists.
Started in 1991, the NCAA Woman of The Year award honors senior student-athletes
for their collegiate achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics.
Parker best exemplifies these qualities and a commitment to each of the four
areas.
In a year of accolades and hard work, Parker continues to set the standard
for female student-athletes at Lincoln. She became the first student-athlete
in Lincoln’s long and distinguished 153-year history to be named to the ESPN
The Magazine Academic All-America team.
“She’s a great leader for us and one of the best I’ve had in a long time,”
said Lincoln track and field coach Cyrus D. Jones, who will be inducted into
the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame in December. “Ashley is very deserving of this
recognition. She’s an outstanding person and I am really excited for her.”
Parker was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women’s Track
and Field Performer of the Year in May. Parker, who is scheduled to graduate
in December, has an overall grade point average of 3.74.
“Despite the many trials and tribulations, tears and happiness, and wins
and loses there are five major qualities I have gained by being a student-athlete,”
Parker wrote in her personal statement for the NCAA Woman of the Year. “The
five qualities that have helped mold me into the person I am today are character,
patience, discipline, teamwork and time management. Punctuality, commitment,
understanding, great focus, and wise decision-making have come from discipline,
which has served as the foundation for my academic and athletic success.”
Parker recently helped the Lady Lions finish fifth at the 2007 NCAA Division
III Outdoor National championship meet by placing third in the 100-meter
dash and fourth in the 200-meter dash. The fifth place finish was Lincoln’s
highest since 2001. During the indoor national championship meet, Parker
was fourth in the 55-meter dash (7.19). Parker won the 200-meter dash at
the Swarthmore College Twilight Meet. She also ran on the Lady Lions’ 400
and 1600-meter relay teams.
Parker is a member of the school record 1600-meter relay indoor team. Parker
earned Player of the Week accolades from the Association of Division III
Independents on April 23 after helping the 1,600-meter relay team win its
race at the Moravian Greyhound Classic. During the indoor season, Parker
won the 60-meter dash at the University of Delaware Invitational on January
20 (7.90).
“We are very proud of Ashley,” Lincoln University athletics director Dr.
Alfonso Scandrett, Jr. said. “It’s nice to know that while Ashley excelled
on the track that she did not lose focus of her academics.”
During the summer, Parker fulfilled an internship at the Atlantic Care Regional
Medical Center in Atlantic City observing respiratory therapists. Among some
of the campus organizations and clubs Parker belongs to include the HPER
(Health, Physical Education and Recreation) Club and National Society of
Negro Women. Parker was inducted into the Who’s Who Among Students at American
Colleges and Universities for Academic Excellence and Leadership. She is
also an Academic Merit Scholar.
“It makes me feel good to be recognized,” Parker said. “When I look back
on everything that I’ve done academically, athletically or extra circular,
I don’t see it as anything special because I just see it as being me. When
all of my achievements are written on paper, I am like, ‘did I do all of
this stuff’. It’s an honor to be the first finalist from HBCU. That is so
amazing. This is all God. I acknowledge God in everything that I do and basically
there is no limitations how far you can go in life, if you put God first.
That’s how I live my life.”
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is the first historically black institution
of higher education and its graduates include such luminaries as Thurgood
Marshall, the first African American justice of the United States Supreme
Court, and acclaimed poet and author Langston Hughes. Lincoln University
is nationally regarded for producing African Americans with undergraduate
degrees in the physical sciences.
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