HU Rider Tabbed for ODAC/Farm Bureau Honor

FOREST, Va. --- Hollins University rider Cecelia Parks is one of 11 student-athletes from Old Dominion Athletic Conference member schools to earn a 2014 ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award during the spring athletic schedule.  Dickson was tabbed from a pool of nominees by a vote of each of the conference’s sports information directors.

The ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar Athlete Award is given to a student-athlete in each of the conference's 23sponsored sports.  Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance is the presenter of each of the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards, forming a partnership with the ODAC to emphasize the NCAA Division III philosophy of the complete student-athlete experience.  To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore standing and have spent at least one full academic year at the nominating institution, must maintain at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, and must have participated in at least 50-percent of the team's events as a starter or key contributor.

Parks, a senior from Bridgewater, Va., maintained a 3.98 grade point average as a history and political science major while also working towards a certificate in leadership studies as a member of the Batten Leadership Institute certificate program. She has had papers accepted at the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Undergraduate Studies at Sweet Briar College the past two years. She also served as Co-President of the Hollins Riding Club.  She studied in London where she interned at the City of Westminster Archives during the spring of her junior year.  Parks' next step will be pursuing a Master's Degree in library science with a concentration in archives and records management at the University of Maryland.

In competition, Parks qualified for IHSA Regionals in the Novice Equitation over Fences by placing first in the discipline at the Hollins Fall IHSA Show. She placed second in Intermediate Equitation over Fences at both the fall and spring Bridgewater IHSA shows, and added a third place showing in Intermediate Equitation over Fences at the Hollins Spring IHSA Show. She placed sixth in Intermediate Equitation over Fences at the Sweet Briar Fall IHSA Show.  At the ODAC Championships, Parks posted a 68.5 average over two equitation over fences.

"We are proud of the accomplishments of every one of our student-athletes," says ODAC commissioner Brad Bankston. "It is especially gratifying to be able to recognize those who personify the definition of ‘student-athlete' through these awards, and we are proud to be affiliated with Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance in this program."

For more information about the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards, visit the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.