May 17, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame track and field and cross country runner Allison Schroeder has been honored with the American Eagle Outfitters Michael Tranghese Postgraduate Leadership Award, the BIG EAST Conference Academic Affairs Committee announced on Thursday.
Schroeder and Benjamin Forrest of Rutgers each received the award and are given a $5,000 scholarship, which can be used towards postgraduate work.
The award is named for Michael Tranghese, the BIG EAST’s first full-time employee who served as commissioner of the conference from 1990 to 2009.
The award is given to one male and one female student-athlete from a BIG EAST-sponsored sport who have been admitted to a degree-granting or professional program for the following year and who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, athletic performance and depth of commitment to service within the institution or the community.
Schroeder, who will attend Ohio State’s College of Medicine in the fall, is set to graduate from the College of Science this Sunday with a degree in Biological Sciences and with a minor in Science, Technology, and Values. The Ottawa, Ohio native concluded her academic career with a remarkable 3.926 grade point average (GPA) and was named to the Dean’s List all eight semesters she was at Notre Dame.
At Notre Dame’s annual OSCARS celebration for student-athletes in early May, Schroeder was given the Top Gun Award, which is presented to the senior student-athlete with the highest GPA. She also shared the women’s track and field Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award with teammate Maddie Buttinger.
As a senior, Schroeder served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was active in the community and on campus throughout her career. In addition to conducting undergraduate research in the organic chemistry lab of Dr. Marvin Miller, Schroeder also was a student-athlete tutor for fellow student-athletes through the athletic department’s Academic Services office.
In the community she volunteered 30 hours in the fall of 2010 at the Sister Maura Brannick Health Center, which provides healthcare services to uninsured residents of St. Joseph County and also participated in the Pediatric Christmas Party in December.
On the track she was named all-BIG EAST at the 2012 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships after running a leg of the second-place 4x800m relay team. She also ran a leg of the women’s distance medley team that finished fourth at the 2012 BIG EAST Indoor Championships. In the fall she turned in three top-15 finishes for the Irish in cross country and in 2010 she helped both the indoor and outdoor 4x800m relay teams to fifth place finishes at the BIG EAST Championships.
She becomes the second Notre Dame student-athlete in two years to receive the award, as men’s tennis standout Tyler Davis won the award during its first year of existence in 2011.
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