WSU's Weidert picks up award

[Raider Country]

WSU's Weidert picks up Cecil N. Coleman Medal of Honor
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Friday, July 11, 2008

FAIRBORN — In a world of me-first athletes, Jessica Weidert stands out.

"When I think about my future," Weidert said Thursday, July 10, "I'm not so concerned about my personal life as making a difference."

She already has made a difference at Wright State, where she graduated in education with a 4.0 grade-point average, was named the school's and Horizon League's Swimmer of the Year and has secured the league's Cecil N. Coleman Medal of Honor for combining scholarship, athletics and extracurricular activities into a lifestyle.

Butler basketball player A.J. Graves won the men's award.

Weidert is the first WSU woman to win the award, and the second athlete in school history.

She plans to become a teacher, or she might use her schooling in sign language, which could become an even more helpful vocation.

Lucy Weidert, Jessica's mother, said she saw her job as raising, "happy, contributing, confident adults."

Jessica Weidert seems to be all of that.

www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/07/11/ddn071108spwsub1.html

[Raider Country]

Wright State's Weidert not one to talk about herself
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Friday, July 11, 2008

FAIRBORN — Jessica Weidert called home to Spokane, Wash., this week and told her mother.

"I haven't been very good at this," Weidert said Thursday, July 10, when it was announced she received the Horizon League's Cecil N. Coleman Medal of Honor. "My mom is my role model. I thought she'd like to know."

The Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to a top male and female student-athlete "who best exemplify the dignity and high purpose of the Horizon League and its membership."

That means extracurricular activities, and Weidert is at the front of the line in that regard, holding a 4.0 grade point average in education (she's currently in graduate school) and being WSU's (and the Horizon League's) top swimmer.

A year ago, when Weidert received her first Dr. Carl Benner Scholar-Athlete Award, her father was dying of a long illness. When she emptied her suitcases for summer vacation, she handed her mom a box with a trophy inside.

"What's this?" Lucy Weidert said.

"It's an award I won," Jessica answered.

"It would have been nice if you told me," Lucy said.

"There was a lot of other stuff going on at the time," Jessica answered.

Jessica Weidert swims, goes to school and devotes much of her extra time to causes. She is a member of WSU's SAAC, the Gang Green Environmental Action Group on campus, helps coach at Special Olympics, gives youth swimming lessons and was on the search committee for the school's new athletic director.

She doesn't like to talk much about herself.

"I got in trouble for not keeping Mom updated," Weidert said.

Oh, well, Lucy Weidert has found out stuff other ways, on the Internet, in phone calls from Jessica's siblings, by just asking questions.

"After her first meet," Lucy said, "I asked her how she'd done. She said she did well. A half hour later, her sister called and asked if I knew Jessica broke the pool record. Jessica didn't tell me."

Maybe Lucy Weidert knows this, maybe she doesn't. Jessica is WSU's first female recipient of the Coleman Award (first presented to a female in 1987, males in 1981) and the second in school history (baseball's Andy Matko won in 1997).

She has won two Benner awards and was the league's Swimmer of the Year at the league championships, setting league records in the 200 breaststroke and 200 and 400 individual medleys. She is the Horizon League's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year, announced in the fall.

www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/07/10/ddn071108spwsu.html

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