Wingate's Burrell Selected as 2024 SAC Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate University's Grace Burrell was voted as the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference announced today.
The South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the Conference's championship sports and is voted on by the SAC's Faculty Athletic Representatives Committee. The winners are selected based on their achievements in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
Burrell, a senior, holds a 3.896 GPA in psychology and has been a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic team selection in both cross country and track and field. She has earned a spot on the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and Wingate University President's and Dean's three years in a row. She was a two-time member of the Wingate University Honors Program and is writing an extensive research paper with her faculty mentor.
On the course, Burrell is a three-time First Team All-Conference selection and was an All-Southeast Region selection in 2022. In 2024, she finished second at the SAC Championship meet with her 6k time of 21:35.1 to help Wingate win a fourth straight SAC Championship. She finished sixth overall at the 2023 SAC Championship and third overall in 2022. Her ninth-place finish in the region in 2022 saw her finish with a time of 22:28.1. She also ran at the NCAA DII Championships each of the past two years.
The Brentwood-United Kingdom native has been extremely involved in various service and leadership positions. She serves as a research assistant in the Psychology PUPPY Lab at Wingate where she is studying prejudice and stereotypes in young children and is also an Animal Sanctuary volunteer. She also spends her summer and holiday breaks volunteering with her hometown running club to help with events and she spent a summer volunteering at the Eating Disorder Inpatient Unit sharing advice and motivating residents.
2024 Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Finalists
Grace Burrell, Wingate
Grace Rose, Lincoln Memorial
Jenna Pittman, Carson-Newman
Madison Clay, Catawba