Big 12 Honors Wheatley as Community Champion

Lincoln ? For the third straight year the Nebraska track and field team has had an athlete named to the Big 12 Chick-fil-A Community of Champions. With the recent release of the 2010 winter team by the conference, combined eventer Megan Wheatley was chosen as Nebraska’s representative.

 

An All-American in the pentathlon and the defending conference champion in the pentathlon and heptathlon, Wheatley has been a leader both on and off the track for the Huskers. While co-captaining the team in 2010, Wheatley also serves at the Co-President of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). As a food science and technology major, Wheatley has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll during five semesters. During the 2008-09 school year, the Perth, Australia, native was a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team selection and earned First-Team Academic All-Big 12 honors from the conference.

 

Prior to Wheatley’s section as a community champion, Leandra McGruder (winter) and Patrick Burke (spring) were both selected during the 2008-09 school year, while Betsy Miller (fall) and Danielle Smith (spring) represented the Huskers in 2007-08.

 

The Big 12 Conference, in conjunction with Chick-fil-A recognizes numerous student-athletes during the academic year with the Community of Champions program. A team is selected during the fall, winter and spring, with each of the 12 schools in the conference having a representative on each squad. In order to be eligible for consideration, student-athletes must meet the following criteria:

• Academics - An academic standard of a 3.0 grade-point average or higher must be maintained.
• Community Service - The designated student-athlete should be involved with at least one community service program. The program(s) could be a student organization on campus or within the athletic department. For example, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee or Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
• Leadership/Sportsmanship - The student-athlete should demonstrate leadership and sportsmanship on and off the field. Examples would include being team captain, maintaining a leadership role within the athletic department or leadership roles in a campus student organization(s).

In the separate, institutional part of the program, all athletic departments will receive $3,000 from Chick-fil-A. One institution will receive an additional $2,000 ($5,000 total) for outstanding activities in its community. The Community of Champion rules state that the grand prize "will be awarded based on the winning institution's overall positive impact on its community." When multiple institutions are engaged in the similar community activities, the winning institution will be selected by Chick-fil-A with input provided by the Big 12 Conference and ESPN Regional Television.

2010 WINTER CHICK-FIL-A COMMUNITY OF CHAMPIONS

Name                       Class      School                Sport

Gianna Quintana       Sr.           Baylor                  Soccer

Jordan Kyle               Sr.          Colorado               Men’s Track & Field

Shellie Mosman         Sr.           Iowa State            Women’s Basketball

Danielle McCray        Sr.           Kansas                 Women’s Basketball

Chris Merriewether   Sr.           Kansas State        Men’s Basketball

Allie Heizelman          So.          Missouri                 Women’s Gymnastics

Megan Wheatley       Sr.           Nebraska               Women’s Track & Field

Beau Gerber             Sr.           Oklahoma               Men’s Basketball

Andrew Lewis         Sr.           Oklahoma State      Football

Justin Mason            Sr.            Texas                    Men’s Basketball

Ashley Freeman       Sr.            Texas A&M           Women’s Golf

Ifeatu Okafor            RFr.          Texas Tech           Women’s Track & Field