Johnson added to her growing list of accolades with the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar award. |
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Sharonda Johnson Receives Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award
April 4, 2005
Fairfax, Va. - Charlotte 49ers track & field star Sharonda Johnson has been chosen as 2005's female recipient of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award, as chosen by the editorial staff of Black Issues in Higher Education.
Johnson, a junior All-American for the 49ers, joins Michigan State basketball star Chris Hill as the only two athletes chosen out of over 600 applicants for the prestigious award.
Below is the full text of the announcement from Black Issues in Higher Education's Hilary Hurd Anyaso.
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Fairfax, Va. -- "Incredible." That's the word used to describe track and field athlete Sharonda Latrice Johnson.
"Sharonda is the absolute best and brightest. She is the first athletic, as well as academic, All-American Charlotte has ever had," says Lisa Hibbs, director of UNC Charlotte's Athletic Academic Advising Center.
It is Johnson's performance on and off the track that led Black Issues In Higher Education editors to select the junior chemistry major as its female Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars of the Year for best exemplifying the high standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism. Johnson is featured in the April 7, 2005, edition of Black Issues In Higher Education, along with the male Sports Scholar of the Year Michigan State University basketball guard Chris Hill.
The Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars Award is just one of the many honors and awards Johnson has received.
She has been on the Chancellor's List, which requires a 3.8 GPA or higher -- all but a single semester, and has been the recipient of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Conference USA (C-USA) Commissioner's Academic Medal, which requires a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher. And in 2004, as a sophomore, Johnson earned Academic All-America notice to go along with her athletic All-America award.
The junior has dominated the triple jump and high jump events in the conference, earning All-America honors in the triple jump at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Johnson is the first female at UNC-Charlotte to earn an All-America award in a jumping event, and only the second female overall at the school to earn All-America honors in track and field. She also captured both the indoor and outdoor C-USA championships in the triple jump as a sophomore in 2004, and became the first Charlotte female to compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Johnson also holds the school record in both the indoor and outdoor triple jump, and tied the school record for the indoor high jump. Johnson competed at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the triple jump, narrowly missing a second All-America honor.
Johnson, a native of Raleigh, N.C., has a 3.8 cumulative grade-point average, and has aspirations to participate in the 2008 Olympics, preferably in the triple jump.
"She wants to succeed in everything she does -- she doesn't do anything halfway," says Hibbs.
Says Charlotte 49er track and field coach Bob Olesen, "Sharonda is the best leader by example that we could ask for."
Johnson volunteers with different organizations surrounding the university. She has helped with Red Cross blood drives, has been a Kidney Walk participant and volunteered at a homeless shelter. She has also volunteered with the Police Athletic League, tutoring middle- and high-school age students in subjects such as math, science and reading, as well as tutoring fellow student-athletes in everything from chemistry to physics.
"It gives me joy just to help other people," Johnson says.
In 1992, Black Issues In Higher Education established the Sports Scholars Awards to honor undergraduate students of color who exemplify the standards set by tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr.
A scholar and athlete, Ashe sought to expand opportunities for young people. Each year Black Issues In Higher Education invites every postsecondary institution in the country to participate in this awards program by nominating their outstanding sports scholars. In addition to their athletic ability, students named Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars must exhibit academic excellence as well as community activism. To be included, students have to compete in an intercollegiate sport; maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.2; and be active on their campuses or in their communities. This year approximately 600 male and female student-athletes from across the country were nominated.
Published since 1984, Black Issues In Higher Education is the nation's only news magazine dedicated exclusively to minority issues in higher education. Visit www.blackissues.com.
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