Rachel Pease is Honored with the 2016-17 NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville's Rachel Pease was one of six athletes to earn the 2016-17 NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Awards. The NCAA is honoring: Alex Bloom, track and field runner and health major at Cincinnati; Evie Tate, a cross country runner and health science major at Clemson; Rachel Pease, a cross country runner and health and human performance/exercise science major at Louisville; Pablo Jara, a soccer player and sport management major at Wingate; Thomas Caulfield, a track and field runner and business/economics major at St. Lawrence; and Maddie Pronovost, a track and field runner and neuroscience major at Middlebury.

The NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct is also honoring Julia Reininga, current associate athletics director and head women's volleyball coach at Southern Wesleyan, as the 2016-17 recipient of the Bob Frederick Sportsmanship Award. The award recognizes her career long demonstration of sportsmanship.

The awards recognize the athletes and administrators who exemplify sportsmanship, one of the core principles of the NCAA.

Rachel Pease, University of Louisville, and Evie Tate, Clemson University
These two cross country runners demonstrated the beauty of sportsmanship as a collaborative effort at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Louisville's Rachel Pease was nearing the finish line when she witnessed Clemson's Evie Tate tending to a Boston College runner.

Tate was helping the Boston College runner complete the race as Pease joined in. At least eight other runners passed by as the duo teamed up, demonstrating true compassion and sportsmanship to help a competitor cross the finish line. Pease and Tate ultimately sacrificed their finishing places to assist the struggling runner as, united, they crossed the finish line.

"We are proud of the way Rachel recognized that another student-athlete needed assistance and was able to help her, even though it affected her performance. We strive to teach our student-athletes to look out for one another, and Rachel took that to heart in her last race as a Cardinal," said Christine Simatacolos, associate athletics director at Louisville.

University of Louisville Athletics

Rachel Pease is Honored with the 2016-17 NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award

Players Mentioned

Rachel Pease

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