Sharla Manuele Named Summit League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Add Comment    Aug 06, 2010

CEDAR CITY, Utah - June 30 - Southern Utah's Sharla Manuele has been named the Summit League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, earning the award over nominations from each school in the conference.  The award is the most prestigious individual honor given by the league, combining both athletic and scholastic accolades. 

Manuele graduated Summa Cum Laude last spring from SUU with a degree in nursing, finishing with a cumulative GPA of 3.84.  The Newcastle, Utah native appeared on the Dean's List the last six semesters along with being recognized as an outstanding student by the nursing department.  She was also recognized with the Outstanding Student-Athlete Academic Award for the 2009-10 season.  Manuele has been active in the community, putting her studies in action as she has volunteered with numerous health service activities in the Cedar City community regarding H1N1 prevention, scoliosis and vision screenings.  She has also volunteered and helped run the high school cross country and track & field meet for the past five year in addition to working during the Utah Summer Games. 

Her performances in cross country and track & field were also impressive as the senior was named the Summit League Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year.  Manuele blazed to a first-place finish at the Summit League Cross Country Championships to earn MVP honors and help the Thunderbirds to the conference title.  She had the fastest times in the conference in the 5k (17:09) and 6k (21:16.5) during the season and recorded a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Mountain Regionals. 

During the indoor season, Manuele was named an All-American after finishing 16th in the women's mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 4:54.15.  Her athlete of the year honors came as she ran to conference-best times of 4:39.82 in the mile and 9:25.21 in the 3,000-meters during the year.  Her final accolades came during the outdoor season as she earned conference MVP honors after finishing first at the Summit League Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the women's 5,000-meters with a meet-record time of 16:47.65.  She also finished first in the women's 1,500-meters at the championships with a time of 4:27.95, advancing to the NCAA National Qualifying meet in both events.

-Utah College Sports News staff and wire reports

-Photo credit to SUU Athletics

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Utah College Sports Wire