Schmit nets Horizon League’s Coleman Award
University of Illinois-Chicago graduate and former softball student-athlete Coryn Schmit has received yet another award of recognition.
The Horizon League announced recently that the former Lake Zurich High School star is the female recipient of the Cecil N. Coleman Award.
“Coryn exemplifies everything that is great about intercollegiate athletics,” UIC director of athletics Jim Schmidt said on UIC’s website. “Her work ethic, passion, leadership and team-first attitude, in combination with her academic focus make her the perfect recipient of this prestigious award.”
The Horizon League says the Cecil N. Coleman Award is its highest individual honor. It is presented annually to the top female and male student-athletes who best exemplify the dignity and high purpose of the league and its membership. The candidates must be seniors who have exhausted their eligibility and were participants on the varsity level in a League-sponsored sport. The nominees must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.00.
The three-time UIC female student-athlete of the year holds a lengthy resume athletically, academically and in her community.
During her senior season, she was named a first team CoSIDA Academic all-American, just the second in UIC athletic history after being a third-team honoree in 2012 to make her the eighth and ninth CoSIDA Academic all-American honoree in UIC history. She is a two-time first team CoSIDA all-District Five winner. Schmit was named the Horizon League’s May scholar-athlete of the month and is one of two female student-athletes from the league to be selected as an NCAA woman of the year nominee.
Schmit graduated with summa cum laude honors and a degree in kinesiology. She is a two-time kinesiology award winner for being the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average as she maintained a flawless 4.0 cumulative average.
“This is a wonderful award considering all of the talented student-athletes in the Horizon League,” UIC softball head coach Michelle Venturella said. “Coryn is a leader by example. She has always been very generous with her time and did whatever she could to better herself and this team. This is a tremendous honor for her and all of UIC. We are all very proud of her, not only for what she accomplished on the field, or even in the classroom, but for taking it a step further and creating a legacy for those that will follow.”
Schmit earned the inaugural “Leadership Award” during the UIC banquet at the conclusion of the season. The honor was extremely well-deserved after her efforts in initiating the “FLAMEingo Drive”, a fundraiser for breast cancer. Schmit along with the rest of the team raised $4,189.54 for the American Cancer Society’s “Taking Strides Against Breast Cancer” event. The “FLAMEingo Drive” will be continued next season with the senior class taking over and Schmit has already left $300 for a 2013-14 startup fund.
As a result of Schmit’s high achievement, she secured a spot in advance to UIC’s graduate school of physical therapy and will begin her studies in the fall.