By Beth Miller, Engineering Momentum
Students in Washington University’s School of Engineering & Applied Science are known for having a rigorous curriculum and for working very hard. But many of these students also make time to play — on one of the university’s athletic teams.
Engineering is the most predominant major among the 2013 Washington University football team and the cross-country and track & field teams. And these future engineers aren’t simply filling a place on the roster — Engineering students regularly receive national recognition for their athletic and academic accomplishments.
Two Engineering students, Lucy Cheadle, a junior majoring in chemical engineering with minors in environmental engineering and energy engineering, and Anna Etherington, a senior majoring in systems engineering with a minor in operations and supply chain management through the Olin Business School, were selected for the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division III Men’s and Women’s Track & Field/Cross-country Teams.
In July, both Cheadle and Etherington were named to the fifth annual University Athletic Association (UAA) President’s Council Scholar-Athlete Team.
While these student athletes have different majors within Engineering and play different sports, they have a lot in common — determination, outstanding scholarship, a passion for their sports and the ability to manage a difficult curriculum along with practices, games, meets and travel.
Colin Webb, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, is a captain of the football team and plays the H-back position. During the season, practice is 3.5 hours a day most weekdays, with games and travel on Saturdays. Despite this schedule, Webb also is a co-course director for Engineering 120, Freshman Seminar, with Christopher Coon, another member of the football team. He also is in a fraternity and directs the intramural officials.
"We are strongly encouraged to plan a class schedule and work on things outside of football practice. The coaches understand we came here for the education, and that's our future. They always take the stance that education and school always come first," says Colin Webb.
Webb says it’s not always easy to manage his course load and football.
“I’ve gotten good at being organized,” he says. “I have a big calendar in my room, and I write everything down so I can stay on top of assignments. It’s really about not procrastinating or wasting time and being disciplined. I go to class, go to practice, eat dinner and do homework.”
Webb says there are several other mechanical engineering majors on the team, and they all work together. That support system has helped make the often grueling schedule much easier for Webb.
“From the outside it looks like a lot, but it’s routine now,” he says. Etherington says managing her course load and pole vaulting takes a lot of “forward thinking.
“It’s all about time management to a T,” she says. “I know that in the fall I’m still busy, because we still have practice, but no competitions, so I take more or harder classes in the fall than I do in the spring,” she says. “But in the spring, I know I’m going to have practice every day from 4 to 6 p.m., so I plan my homework schedule around that.”
Despite staying in the hotel to study when the team travels to meets and not being able to participate in clubs in the spring, Etherington says she’s not sacrificing anything.
“I just have a different experience,” she says. “All it takes is communication — talk to the professor, and talk to the coach. Anything can be worked out — it just takes communication among everybody."
Chris Lowery, who has been playing baseball since he was 9 years old, is now a captain and third baseman on Washington University’s baseball team. Because his spring semester is busy with weekday practices and games, he takes 20 credit hours in the fall and 16 in the spring.
“I can push myself education-wise in the fall because I only have school,” says Lowery, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering. “When the spring comes around, I’m still very swamped, but it’s half baseball, half school. Year-round, it’s always busy and always demanding, but I’m able to balance it out.”
During the baseball season, Lowery has three-hour practices on weekdays, so he begins homework at 7 p.m. On spring weekends, the team has games and often double-headers, and the bus trips to and from games aren’t conducive to good study time.
“It just takes a lot of planning,” he says. “People keep telling me college is all about planning. A sport just multiplies that in infinite. I can’t see anything else being more demanding than a sport and a Wash U education.”
Athletes say they aren’t getting special treatment from coaches for being engineering majors, either.
“The coaches are supportive, but they don’t separate engineering from other schools,” Lowery says. “They know that Wash U is very demanding and are very understanding. They know we are student athletes first.”
Because Cheadle competes nearly year-round — cross-country in the fall, then track & field in the winter and spring — she isn’t able to load more courses in a semester off from competing as those in other sports do. But that’s how she works best, she says.
Why Washington University
Cheadle says she chose Washington University because of the balance between school and running.
“I thought Wash U was a happy medium,” she says. “I could be a very competitive athlete, but school always came first. Running is important to me, but I’m not going to do it competitively after college. We do it because we really love it and have a passion for the sport.”
And that passion goes a long way, says Jeff Stiles, head coach for cross-country and track & field.
“Lucy loves to run, and Anna loves to pole vault,” he says.
“The coaching staff can’t take any credit for that. We recognize that they are two elite young women who are brilliant and motivated in the classroom and in track and cross-country. They are fostering the desire to do it, not just for themselves, but for the benefit of the team.”
Steve Duncan, head coach of the baseball team, says Lowery is one of the leaders of the team.
“Chris is one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached,” Duncan says. “He gets it — he’s not only a good student, but a good teammate, is very coachable, has a great sense of humor, works hard, is driven, and if anything, he puts too much pressure on himself. He is a joy to coach and is universally well-liked on the team.”
Larry Kindbom, head coach of the football team for 24 years, says Webb is an outstanding example of a scholar athlete.
“Colin represents the guys who have come before him and the guys who will come after him in their ability to excel in the engineering field and to get involved with activities on campus beyond football,” Kindbom says. “Colin does all those things and does them well. He is a leader in a school where leaders abound. That’s what makes him not just special, but you look at him and say, ‘Wow.’”
Stiles says Etherington and Cheadle are the “full package.
“They could have gone Division 1, but they chose Division 3 because Wash U is right for them. They love what Wash U has to offer them and wanted to be in this environment.”
Washington University caters to students who want to be athletes and engineers, Kindbom says.
“I’ve proctored exams on the road for many years, and many of those were engineering,” he says. “That doesn’t happen at other schools.”
“We have to be flexible,” Duncan says. “That’s the nature of being a student athlete at Wash U — academics come first,” Duncan says. “One of the cool things about Wash U is that there is really no question why these students are here. Baseball is a huge part of the college experience, but it’s not their No. 1 focus.”
"Our Engineering students not only thrive academically and athletically, but they can do other things, like community service or serving on advisory committees. This is the type of school that you can be a part of. That's what makes Was U a special place." — Jeff Stiles, Cross-country and Track & Field head coach
The football program offers an informal mentoring program among its players who are engineering majors beginning their freshman year, Kindbom says. Upperclassmen serve as mentors to new students to help them get adjusted.
“We know that our players are here for their academics, but we also want to play for a national championship,” Kindbom says. “We let them know we value their engineering education, and we value that they want to play at a national championship level.”