Wesleyan University

STEPHANIE O'BRIEN, LUCIA PIER AND ZACH SCHECHTER-STEINBERG NAMED MAYNARD AWARD WINNERS AT WESLEYAN
(Two Outstanding Women's Running Talents and Defensive Backbone of Men's Soccer Receive University's Scholar-Athlete Award)

Stephanie O'Brien (holding clock second from right), a senior at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and a resident of Newton, Mass.; Lucia Pier, a senior from Sonoma, Calif. (holding clock second from left); and Zach Schechter-Steinberg (holding clock in middle), a senior from Iowa City, Iowa, were named the recipients of Wesleyan's Roger Maynard Memorial Award for the 2007-08 academic year. The award is presented annually to the outstanding male and female scholar-athletes in their last year of eligibility. O'Brien, Pier and Schechter-Steinberg represent the finest combination of athletic accomplishment and academic achievement at Wesleyan. All three have an overall GPA in excess of 3.75. The three are joined in the photo by their head coaches (L to R), John Crooke (head cross country coach), Geoff Wheeler (head men's soccer coach) and Walter Curry (head track coach).

A four-year letterwinner in both indoor and outdoor track, O'Brien holds three Wesleyan indoor track records - the 600m by herself and a part of both the 4x400m relay and distance medley relay. She was timed in 2:16.31 for the 800m this past winter, qualifying her provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championships. O'Brien runs everything between 400m and 1500m. She is a team captain in both indoor and outdoor track this year and a two-time academic all-NESCAC choice in both indoor and outdoor track. She earned all-New England Division III honors indoors as a freshman, sophomore and junior and outdoors as a sophomore and junior. She is majoring in sociology.
Pier, a film studies major, is a three-year letterwinner in cross country, and member of indoor and outdoor track team for three seasons. Pier capped off her final season in cross country by finishing 18th of 344 runners at the New England Division III Championship for all-New England Division III laurels and qualify as an individual for the NCAA Division III Championship. There she placed 120th of 280 entrants. A team co-captain, she led Wesleyan in four of the team's five races in 2007 while placing second among Cardinal runners once. In 2005 and 2006, she was Wesleyan's number-two runner all season behind All-American Ellen Davis. Pier finished 34th of 320 runners in 2006 to earn her first all-New England Division III honor. She just missed all-New England in 2005 by two places, finishing 37th. In track, Pier has been a solid distance runner despite injuries during the indoor season, receiving all-New England Division III honors outdoors in the 5k in 2007.

Schechter-Steinberg is a four-year member of the men's soccer team and a three-time varsity letterwinner. After seeing limited action as a freshman, he became an every-game player his final three seasons and started all 15 games as a senior, playing on defense. During his four years, Wesleyan posted an outstanding 40-20-7 overall record, won a NESCAC title in 2005, qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament in both 2005 and 2006 (going 2-2 in the tournament), and set team records for consecutive victories (10) and consecutive shutouts (5) during the 2007 campaign. Schechter-Steinberg, who majors in history, also contributed to the offense by scoring two goals and passing for two assists during his career. A two-time academic all-NESCAC honoree, he was a co-recipient of the Bernie O'Rourke Award in men's soccer this year for devotion to the game of soccer, his fellow man and life.

O'Brien, Pier and Schechter-Steinberg were honored at a luncheon Friday, April 11, in support of National Student-Athlete Day, an annual NCAA event.

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