Rhody women's track acquires two academic all-conference players

03/12/09 - University of Rhode Island track and field members Shayna Daugherty and Stephanie Gregory, both juniors, were awarded Atlantic-10 Academic All-Conference honors last week.The two teammates were chosen based on a combination of academic and athletic excellence.

Both Rhode Island and Dayton University were represented by two student-athletes each, tying them for the most in the A-10.

Most recently, Daugherty posted her best finish of her collegiate career in the high jump at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on March 7-8. Daugherty tied for seventh place with a jump of 5'5.

At the New England Championships on Feb. 27-28, Daugherty was a part of URI's first place 4x400-meter relay team, which clocked a winning time of 3:46.95

At the A-10 championships Feb. 20-21, Daugherty posted a personal best 3,554 points in the pentathlon. The mark set a junior class record and was good for third all-time at URI.

"[Being named to the team] highlights all of the effort I've put into both school and track," Daugherty said. "It's rewarding not only in one aspect of my life, it's rewarding in both."

Daugherty currently sports a 3.750 cumulative grade point average as a communicative disorders major.

She said she sometimes finds it difficult to balance track and school work, but gets everything done despite the challenge.

Daugherty said she hopes to someday become a speech pathologist, where she can work with either children with speech impediments, or adults who can't speak English correctly.

"School and track are both important to me when it comes to being successful," Daugherty said. "Being able to do both of them at the same time teaches me a lot of lessons that I'll need later on in life."

Daugherty said that being named to the Academic All-Conference team is her greatest achievement so far at URI.

She said she would like to build on her resume by improving her marks in track and field events to the point where she can be a national-level athlete.

Daugherty also has her sights set on some school records, namely the 4x400-meter relay record which currently stands at 3:44.83 for indoor track and field and 3:44.56 for outdoor track and field.

The indoor record is currently held by Amber Price, Jennifer Strysko, Rachel Oakes and Destiny Woodbury and was set in 2005. The outdoor record is held by Amber Price, Colleen Jones, Rachel Oakes and Destiny Woodbury and was set in 2004.

"She's a really good teammate," Gregory said of Daugherty. "She's always positive and makes everyone laugh."

Gregory has stood out all season long as well for Rhody, most notably in the pole vault.

Her top performance of the year came at the A-10 tournament when she posted a vault of 11 feet, 3.75 inches to earn third place

She also stood out at the Boston University Invitational where she cleared just over 10 feet to earn ninth place, and at URI's own invitational tournament where she cleared 10 feet to earn first place.

"I work hard both in school and at practice," Gregory said. "Making this team means my hard work is paying off."

Gregory said she finds herself working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on most nights between school and practice, but, like Daugherty, she said she finds that the busy schedule keeps her on top of things.

She currently has a 3.92 cumulative GPA while majoring in chemical engineering, but is unsure of what she would like to pursue for a career. Instead, she said she is considering attending graduate school but has not decided where she would like to apply yet.

Gregory says her main goal is improving her vaults at the outdoor A-10 tournament.

"[Stephanie]'s always at practice with coach Melnick," Daugherty said. "She's a really hard worker. She has a really hard major and she gets awesome grades. She's just an all-around personality.