Pixler Wins Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship

Jessica Pixler

(May 3, 2011) - Her performances on the track and on the cross country course are matched only by her performance in the classroom. And Jesica Pixler has yet another major award acknowledging her academic work:

The Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship.

The former Seattle Pacific distance running star, now at the University of Colorado, has been selected as the 2011 female winner of the Byers scholarship, a renewable award of $24,000 to continue her postgraduate studies.

"I am still somewhat shocked that I have received this honor," Pixler said in a statement on the Colorado athletics Web site. "The other candidates that I met during the interview process were equally, if not more deserving of this award. I am thankful to God, my family, professors and coaches for their continued impact on my life. It is truly because of them that I have been blessed with this scholarship."

Pixler was joined by male winner David Gatz of the Ohio Wesleyan swim team. That makes both of this year's winners from NCAA Division II schools.

"This is a stunning honor for Jessica and for Seattle Pacific," said Bill Woodward, the school's faculty athletics representative.

Added SPU athletic director Erin O'Connell, "Once again, we're pleased to have provided Jessica an atmosphere to strive and flourish with her gifts in the classroom and on the track. We're proud to be part of her educational history-making."

The Byers Scholarships were established in 1988 and recognize the contributions of former NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. Recipients must have a grade-point average of at least 3.5, demonstrate evidence of superior character and leadership, and show that participation in athletics has been a positive influence on their personal and intellectual development.

Pixler is currently pursuing her master's in English at Colorado with the help of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, She also is competing for the Buffaloes in her final season of outdoor track eligibility. She plans to go for a doctorate in English and teach at either the college or high school level.

This is the third major award for Pixler in just the first four months of 2011. In early January, she was named a winner of an NCAA Top VIII award for her athletic and academic achievements. And later that month, she was named the Seattle Female Sports Star of the Year at the annual Sports Star of the Year show.

Pixler graduated from Seattle Pacific last June with a 3.93 grade-point average.

During her four years as a Falcon, Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS) won a combined 12 NCAA Division II championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Earlier this spring, she ran an early-season world-leading time of 15 minutes, 25.68 seconds in the 5,000 meters. (It currently ranks No. 7.)

She was a three-time winner of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Scholar Athlete of the Year award for both cross country and indoor track, and won that organization's honor for outdoor track in 2010.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference recognized Pixler as its Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2010. And, in addition to being named the over Seattle Pacific Athlete of the Year an unprecedented four straight times, Pixler was honored with a Falcon Award for Excellence last spring. Those awards are presented to SPU seniors for their success in athletics, academics and community service.

Pixler Female Sports Star of the Year Award Winner

Jessica Pixler usually leaves the competition behind her on the cross country course and the track.

On Wednesday night (Jan. 26), the former Seattle Pacific star even left everyone behind in Benaroya Hall.

Pixler, who won 12 NCAA championships during her four years in Falcon colors was named the Female Sports Star of the Year at the 76th annual Sports Star of the Year show.

The 2010 SPU graduate from Sammamish, just east of Seattle, was selected as the top overall female by an online fans vote. She beat out four others, including friendly distance running rival Katie Follett from the University of Washington.

Others up for the award were world champion swimmer Ariana Kukors of Auburn, UW volleyball player Jenna Hagglund, and U.S. Olympic hockey player Karen Thatcher.

Pixler is the second Seattle Pacific distance running star and the third Falcon overall to win the annual honor, joining legendary runner Doris Brown Heritage (1970) and former men's soccer coach Cliff McCrath (1986) on the list.

The award dates back to 1935 when the now-late Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports editor Royal Brougham - for whom SPU's primary athletic facility is named - started the annual event.

This is the third time Pixler has been a Sports Star of the Year female finalist.

In her usual humble style, Pixler said she was surprised to hear her name called.

"I just think that knowing who has won this award in the past and the people who were up for the award, I was not expecting this at all," she said.

She might have been surprised - but Seattle Pacific head cross country coach Erika Daligcon certainly wasn't.

"Not to sound like a broken record - but this is well deserved," Daligcon said. "It's just a testament to all of the hard work she has put into her sport and into her teammates. That's really one of the qualities I love about her so much: It's not just the act of running, but it was about her team and the support she gave to them and also gave to her coaches."

The honor became the latest distinguished addition to her already-impressive collection - and two of those have come this month.

Just two weeks ago in San Antonio, Texas, Pixler received an NCAA Today's Top VIII award, one of eight athletes from across all three NCAA divisions to be honored for her athletic and academic accomplishments.

The Sports Star honor, however, moved quickly up her list.

"This might be the most meaningful. It was really special to me because Doris has won it before," Pixler said. "Just knowing the legacy behind it and that someone like Doris has won, and knowing it came from the Seattle community (from the online fans vote) gave a huge magnitude to it. Seattle has been a big part of my sports upbringing, and I was really touched that the community really honors and supports me."

In her four years as a Falcon, Pixler won three straight NCAA Division II cross country championships, four consecutive indoor mile titles, three outdoor 1,500-meter titles and one indoor 5,000-meter title. She also was part of last year's victorious NCAA indoor track distance medley relay team.

As good as she was in uniform, she was just as good in the classroom, completing her English degree with a 3.93 grade-point average. She is at Colorado on an NCAA post-graduate scholarship, and also was named national scholar-athlete of the year three times for cross country, three times for indoor track and once for outdoor track by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Pixler earned SPU's Ron Grady Athlete of the Year award all four years at the school, and last year received a Falcon Award for Excellence for her athletics, academics, and community service.

She actually is not done competing collegiately yet. Because of an injury, Pixler missed her sophomore outdoor track season. She will use that final year of eligibility this spring at Colorado.

Other winners on Wednesday night were Olympic speedskater Apolo Ohno as Male Sports Star of the Year, and current San Francisco Giants and former University of Washington pitcher Tim Lincecum as Professional Sports Star of the Year. Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez' winning of the American League Cy Young Award was named Sports Story of the Year.

Pixler Earns NCAA Top VIII Award

Former Seattle Pacific cross country and track star Jessica Pixler, who graduated last June, has been named as one of the NCAA Today's Top VIII Award winners.

She will join seven other recipients on stage at the NCAA convention next week in San Antonio, Texas.

The Top VIII winners are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of athletic administrators at member schools and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes.

Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS), who now is doing graduate work at the University of Colorado, won 12 NCAA titles during her four years as a Falcon.

That collection included three straight on the cross country course, six in indoor track (including four straight in the mile) and three in outdoor track.

But Pixler saved plenty of effort for the classroom, too, compiling a 3.93 grade-point average as an English major.

She was named SPU's overall Athlete of the Year in each of her four years at the school, an unprecedented accomplishment.

Her college running career actually isn't finished quite yet. Pixler has one year of outdoor track eligibility remaining, and she'll use it this coming spring at Colorado. She missed the 2008 outdoor season because of stress fractures in her back