INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Former University of New Haven stand out women's track and field student-athlete Shannon Gagne has been named one of eight extraordinary student-athletes who will be honored in January 2012 as the NCAA Today's Top VIII Award winners.
Gagne, a five-time NCAA Division II National Champion last season, is one of eight recipients and the only from Division II. The Meriden, Conn. native joins Sam Acho (University of Texas at Austin), Kelsey Bruder (University of Florida), Kayla Hoffman (University of Alabama), Lee Ellis Moore (University of Mississippi), Danielle Robinson (University of Oklahoma), Kendra Stern (Amherst College), and Brittany Viola (University of Miami).
The NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award recognizes student-athletes who completed their athletics eligibility during the 2010-11 academic year for their success on the fields and courts, in the classroom and in the community. Award recipients will be recognized at the Honors Celebration on January 13 during the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of athletics administrators at member institutions and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes.
Gagne earned a 3.93 overall grade point average as a Criminal Justice major at UNH. This past season, she won five national championships during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons and wsa the first female student-athlete to win three national championships at one meet across both track and field events in NCAA history. She was the 2011 USTFCCCA National Outdoor Track Athletics of the Year and the Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. She was also one of 30 finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and was the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Player of the Year for the college division. Gagne was also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and president of the Legal Society, and she held a leadership role in fundraisers for St. Jude and domestic violence prevention.
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