INDIANAPOLIS -The NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct has named Janelle Perry, track and field athlete and public relations and communications major at Ursuline, the 2018-19 NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award winner. The committee also will honor Jeff Wettach, recently retired head men’s and women’s track and field coach and assistant professor at Luther, with the 2018-19 Bob Frederick Sportsmanship Award.
 
The committee chose three other students and one team to receive this year’s NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Awards: Fiona Caulfield, diver and psychology major at American; Bryant Christian, ice hockey player and accounting major at American International; Zach Parisella, cross country runner and theater major at Eastern Connecticut State; and the members of the 2017 Western Michigan football team.
 
The awards recognize the athletes and administrators who exemplify sportsmanship, a core principle of the NCAA.
 
Janelle Perry, Ursuline
Janelle Perry earned her third career national championship after winning the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2018. 
 
While at the meet, she watched the 800-meter run and witnessed Coker senior Darroneshia Lott shatter the Division II record to win the race. Twenty minutes after the conclusion of the race, Lott was notified that she had been disqualified due to a lane violation and was not the national champion.
 
When Perry learned of the disqualification, she sought out the would-be champion at the team hotel and gave Lott her own national championship trophy. Perry thought Lott deserved recognition for her accomplishment in the 800 meters and wanted to show her that her work was inspiring.
 
“Honestly, I would’ve never imagined a complete stranger offering me their championship trophy,” Lott said. “I know how much that trophy means to her, and for her to just give that to me is absolutely incredible.”
 
Among the student-athletes selected as divisional winners, the committee elected Perry as the overall NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award recipient for her act of kindness.
 
Perry was a junior during the 2017-18 academic year at Ursuline. She has since enrolled and transferred to Central Michigan University, where she is a competing member in the Chippewas’ track and field program. 
 
In three years representing the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, she was a 10-time NCAA All-American in the indoor and outdoor seasons and a three-time national champion.