Former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women's track and field and cross country athlete Leah Juno has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award.
The award is presented to the top eight student-athletes from all NCAA divisions and all NCAA sponsored sports over the past calendar year.
Juno is the only Division III student-athlete to receive the award, and is the second person with Stevens Point connections to be so honored.
She is the first athlete from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to earn the honor and joins Stevens Point native Suzy Favor-Hamilton from UW-Madison in 1991 as the only Wisconsin athletes to be honored in the 30-year history of the award.
As an award winner for 2001, Juno joins elite company with two gold medal-winning swimmers, two national women's basketball players of the year, a member of the U.S. Olympic volleyball team, the top collegiate golfer in NCAA history and one of the country's top football special teams players.
Juno, a Brillion native, will be honored at the NCAA's annual honors dinner on Jan. 13 in Indianapolis as part of the NCAA Convention.
Past winners of the award include football players Peyton Manning, John Elway and Archie Griffin, basketball players David Robinson and Cheryl Miller, volleyball player Karch Kiraly and softball standout Lisa Fernandez.
"We are proud of Leah's accomplishments both athletically and academically," UW-Stevens Point Athletic Director Frank O'Brien said. "The fact that she is the only WIAC student-athlete ever to receive a Top VIII honor is indicative of how prestigious this award is. Leah was a lot of fun to have in our athletics program for four years and it truly was a thrill to watch her compete."
Juno is a three-time NCAA Division III champion, winning last season's indoor and outdoor 800-meters titles. She also won the outdoor 800 meters in 2000 and was the 2001 UW-Stevens Point female Athlete of the Year. The six-time all-American was the 2001 Midwest Region indoor and outdoor track and field athlete of the year. Juno won six WIAC titles and also is the conference's 800-meter record-holder.
In cross country, the two-time all-American (16th place in 2000 and 24th in 1999) led the Pointers to a ninth-place team finish in 2000. The WIAC champion as a senior, she finished fifth in the conference as a junior, 11th as a sophomore and 25th as a freshman.
She compiled a 3.86 grade point average in mathematics and computer science and was a two-time Verizon Academic All-American. She also was the 2000 WIAC cross country Scholar Athlete award winner and the vice president of the UW-SP Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
Juno currently works in the computer department at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Appleton.
"Leah is one of those rare athletes who has it all," Pointers' women's track and field coach Len Hill said. "She has the desire to work hard, the talent to back it up and the intelligence to bring it home."
Other winners this year include Notre Dame basketball player Ruth Riley, Stanford swimmer Misty Hyman, Georgia swimmer Kimberly Black, Nebraska volleyball player Nancy Metcalf, Georgia Tech golfer Bryce Molder, Virginia Tech football player Andre Davis and Emporia State (Kan.) basketball player Emily Bloss.