CLEVELAND – The National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) has announced the recipients of its 2022 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. The N4A Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award honors student-athletes who have overcome great personal, academic, and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics. These individuals have persevered and made significant personal strides toward success.

"The Wilma Rudolph Award continues to be one of our association's flagship awards because it celebrates how student-athletes have embraced, persevered, and overcome adverse situations within their personal and professional journeys," said N4A President Ashton Henderson, executive associate athletics director for championship resources at Michigan State University. "These young people provide the bandwidth and runway for us to thrive, and we are grateful to be back in person to celebrate the meritorious achievements of these five amazing recipients."

The 2022 Wilma Rudolph recipients are Austin Blake, Campbell University; Riley Clark, University of Maine; Mary Griffin, Virginia Tech; Taylor Robertson, University of Dayton; and Jack Winkler, Michigan State University. These five student-athletes will be honored in conjunction with the 2022 N4A Convention on June 27.

Austin Blake, Campbell University
Austin arrived at Campbell University and immediately made an impact on the football field. However, in 2020, Austin was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder that damages nerves. He spent three to four months at Shepherd Center, where he endured a very intense rehab schedule to relearn basic human movements and functions. Austin experienced some complications from GBS, including being diagnosed with CIDP, a chronic form of BS, but he continued to fight to get back on the field. Even though he spent a majority of that semester in outpatient rehab, he completed coursework so he would not fall behind in his classes. When he got back to school, he decided to change his major to healthcare management so he could one day start his own rehab facility. By the 2021 season, Austin was back on the football field. 

Riley Clark, University of Maine 
Energetic, loveable, positive, and passionate. Those are just a few words coaches and teammates have used when describing University of Maine diver Riley Clark. Riley's zest for life shines bright, but as a first-year, he faced one of the biggest challenges a student-athlete can face. Riley noticed something was wrong with his body in June 2020. After monitoring the situation for two months, Riley made the decision to go to the doctor to get some answers. The answer Riley received was a cancer diagnosis. Though he battled over the next several months with intense chemotherapy, the treatment did not go as planned. Riley was forced to have life-saving surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes throughout his abdomen. Despite being told he would not be able to dive for at least a year due to the severity of surgery, Riley was determined to get back on the diving boards with his teammates. He returned to the University of Maine a few weeks after the surgery, surprising his teammates and coaches with his return. Riley began training and doing what his body would allow him to do to build strength. Riley had one goal: to compete at the 2021 America East Championships just a couple weeks after his return to UMaine. Against all odds, Riley returned to competition and placed fifth on the 1-meter board and sixth in the 3-meter event. This unimaginable feat has no explanation other than Riley refusing to let cancer define him. Riley, who will enter his senior year at UMaine in the fall of 2022, is pursuing his degree in kinesiology and physical education with a minor in premedical studies. Following graduation, Riley's plan is to apply to physician assistant school with an end goal of becoming a PA in a pediatric oncology ward.

Mary Griffin, Virginia Tech
Mary Griffin's life changed forever the day she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during her sophomore year at Virginia Tech. After countless appointments and treatments, plus the added complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mary persevered. She continued to show her commitment to academics and staying on track to graduate by earning a 4.0 GPA that semester. Since returning to campus, she has continued to shine athletically, academically, and in the community. Through adversity, she has discovered her passion for storytelling, including being vulnerable and sharing her story while also giving others the platform to share theirs as well. She has created a podcast and interviews student-athletes from across the country on their own experiences in order to shed light on the struggles student-athletes may be facing. She encourages others to find the good within the hardships they face, just as she has.

Taylor Robertson, University of Dayton
University of Dayton track & field senior Taylor Robertson is a three-time All-Atlantic 10 performer in pole vault. She earned those accolades all while battling lupus, a disease where the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. The inflammation it causes can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, lungs, and brain. There is no cure. The disease triggers rheumatoid arthritis and recurring kidney infections severe enough to require hospitalization. When she was first diagnosed at just 15 years old, her doctor told her that she may never be able to run again. Though she will battle lupus the rest of her life, you could never tell by her accomplishments on the track, in the classroom, and in the UD community. She won a silver medal at the 2020 A-10 Indoor Championships. After a season canceled to COVID, Robertson returned to win a silver medal at the 2021 A-10 Outdoor Championships with a mark of 3.86m, good for an all-time top-five record at UD. She also took bronze at the 2021 A-10 Indoor Championships. Robertson owns the second-best mark in UD history for indoor long jump. She is currently the sports editor of Flyer News, the University of Dayton's student newspaper, as well as lead blogger at TrackBarn News (an online newspaper Robertson started with Carl McCargo, CEO of TrackBarn). She will be graduating in December 2022 with a media production degree and plans to become a news anchor.

Jack Winkler, Michigan State University
Jack Winkler had his eyes set on playing tennis for Michigan State for his entire college career. His freshman season at MSU was strong, but something was wrong. Winkler had an upset stomach along with other symptoms. Winkler became so sick that he lost 25 pounds, but he didn't know why. He ended up in the emergency room with worsening symptoms. It was determined he had ulcerative colitis. Now he knew what was wrong, but he still wasn't sure about the path forward to getting better. Winkler started taking medication, which worked temporarily. He returned to MSU at the start of his sophomore year and was able to play tennis again. He was 18-14 overall in singles play with a 10-11 record at No. 1 singles and was ranked in the ITA Top 125. He was on track to start his junior season until the medicine had stopped working. Fearing what could happen to him if they waited any longer, Winkler's family and doctors had to quickly make a tough choice. He had his colon surgically removed. Spending 75 days in the hospital and getting a major organ removed over the course of nine months changed Winkler's life in many ways. He was initially told he would never play tennis again. Relearning to walk was a challenge. Incredibly, Jack returned to the singles lineup three years later for the team's first match of his 5th year. He won his first match back in straight sets: 6-4, 6-2. To top off a storybook comeback, he was named First Team All-Big Ten at the end of this season.

About Wilma Rudolph: Despite being told as a child she would never walk again, Wilma Rudolph relentlessly pursued her dreams of becoming an international track and field star. At the height of her career, "the fastest woman in the world" used her platform to shed light on social issues. Rudolph competed in the 1956 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the 4x100 relay. Four years later, she headed to the 1960 Summer Olympics determined to earn gold. Her performance in Rome cemented her as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. She won three gold medals and broke several world records. Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at the same Olympic Games. The indoor track and dormitory at Tennessee State University are named in honor of Rudolph. She died of a brain tumor on November 12, 1994.

About N4A: N4A, which has been in existence since 1975, is a diverse educational service and professional non-profit organization. Membership of N4A includes academic support and student services personnel who are committed to enhancing opportunities for academic, athletics and personal success for student-athletes. For more information on N4A, visit www.nfoura.org. N4A is administered by NACDA, which is in its 57th year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.