Barry’s Shyla Rider Repeats as SSC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
For the second consecutive year, Barry University softball player Shyla Rider has been named the 2009 Sunshine State Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced Tuesday by Commissioner Michael J. Marcil.
The award was chosen by votes cast by league athletic directors and faculty athletics representatives. Selection criteria were 40 percent grade point average, 40 percent athletic prominence, and 20 percent service involvement within the school and community.
A senior from Woodbridge, Va., Rider carried a 3.90 GPA as a chemistry major with a specialization in biochemistry. She was an ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District selection, as well as an NFCA Scholar All-American. Last September, Rider was named the 2007-08 NCAA DII Conference Commissioners’ Association South Region Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
A four-time All-SSC selection, Rider concludes her Barry softball career ranked among the school’s leaders in number of statistical categories. She ranks first in hits, total bases, and doubles. She places second all-time in runs, fourth in walks, fifth in on-base percentage, sixth in RBI, seventh in stolen bases, and eighth in batting average.
Rider has been an extremely active member of her community, both in Miami Shores and in her hometown. A four-year member of Barry’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she has been a leader in Make-A-Wish fundraising and Toys for Tots drives. Additionally, she has participated in the reading program at Sibley Elementary, worked with the Hands On Miami beach clean-up project, helped coordinate National Girls & Women in Sports Day clinics, and volunteered with developmentally challenged persons at the Hope Center. In her hometown of Woodbridge, she volunteers at Ruxton Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center about 14 weeks per year.
Rider is a member of the Chemistry Club, chemistry national honor society Gamma Sigma Epsilon, and the American Medical School Student Association.
She is the fifth Barry student-athlete to earn Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition and the second to win the award consecutive years. Tennis player Greta Trotman won the award in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Fellow tennis standout Victoria Courmes earned the distinction in 2002-03. Volleyball student-athlete Janina Morusiewicz won the award in 1997-98, while her sister, Marya, also a volleyball player, was selected in 1995-96.