WISE – Cross country / track & field sophomore
Lydia Slemp has been named as the South Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country Elite 23 Award winner for the 2024 season. The award was presented to Slemp at the conference's championship meet in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The Elite 23 Award, based on the NCAA's Elite 90 Award is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average (based on a minimum of 48 credit hours) who has reached the final championship site in each of the conference's 23 team championship sports. Slemp earned the award based on her 4.0 GPA as she pursues a bachelor's degree in special education.
Slemp is the first women's cross-country student-athlete and the second overall from UVA Wise to earn the award since the institution joined the conference in 2019. The other winner was men's cross country harrier Chase Templeton, who earned the honor in 2022.
The Pound native and former Central High School Warrior (where she was All-State) set a new personal record in 5K events this season with her sixth-place finish time of 19:23.0 in the Cherokee Farms Invitational in September. Most recently she placed 61
st in the SAC Cross Country Championships with a 6K time of 25:42.7.
In track she competes in distance events as well as the 4x400 relay. She currently holds several indoor and outdoor program records for the team.
She also excels in the classroom as she was a member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta in high school, where she graduated with honors. She has carried that over to UVA Wise where she has made the Dean's List every semester.
Slemp also "pays it forward" by working as a Camp Counselor in the summer and is a peer tutor in the UVA Wise Writing Center, where she helps her fellow students learn to express their ideas through writing as well as correcting grammatical errors and helping them brainstorm ideas.
The cross country team recently finished their season with several harriers competing in the NCAA Southeast Regional. Slemp will be joining the track team for their indoor and outdoor seasons.
