KUTZTOWN, PA (April 5, 2010) -- For Kutztown University’s Rachel Wisemiller, it was the cherry atop the sundae of a sensational senior year.
She already accomplished a sacred athletics milestone when she became the 13th women’s basketball player at the school to score 1,000 career points. Then, Wisemiller found out she had received the ultimate academic honor when she was named one of the two Gold Medal winners of the prestigious Carlson R. Chambliss Academic Achievement Award.
Wisemiller will be honored in a ceremony this Friday.
The Chambliss Award, established through a donation from former longtime faculty member Carlson R. Chambliss, recognizes graduating seniors for achievement in at least one of six areas, including research projects, original artwork or artistic performances, original writing, noteworthy athletics, and community service.
Wisemiller, a mathematics major, earned the award after being nominated by faculty members Patrick Gorman and Francis Vasko. Wisemiller, a four-year member of the basketball team and second-team all-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference honoree, did research in fall 2009 as an extension of her Senior Seminar in Mathematics on finding the optimal lineup for a college basketball team.
She discovered the basic method in a text Vasko authored on mathematics and sports. Wisemiller was eager to pursue the problem, since it applied to her team. In working with Kutztown women’s basketball coach Janet Malouf, Wisemiller devised a model dealing with matrices to account for the changing lineup during the game due to player fatigue.
Wisemiller spent about three months coming up with her formula.
“I didn’t realize how big of an award the Chambliss Award was at first, but then when I found out, I was in awe,” Wisemiller said. “I am pretty happy and proud of myself.”
Wisemiller averaged 10.4 points per game and helped the Golden Bears (19-10 overall) finish second in the PSAC East, which earned them their first home playoff game since 1998.
She finished her career at Kutztown with 1,013 points and was part of a senior class that guided the Golden Bears to 39 victories in the last two years. She departs Kutztown second on the all-time list in blocked shots (109) and three-pointers (174).
Malouf called Wisemiller “a shining example of a student-athlete.”
“For her to receive recognition for her academic endeavors along with her second-team all-conference honor in basketball shows just how committed Rachel is to achieving success as a student-athlete,” Malouf said.
Wisemiller’s paper will be published in a distinguished journal later this year.
“It means a lot to me that my paper is going to be published,” Wisemiller said. “I am glad my hard work is paying off.”
Wisemiller will spend six weeks this summer at a training program in biostatistics at the University of South Florida.
“I have a lot more confidence in myself and I realize that I can achieve anything if I work hard at it,” Wisemiller said. “I just want to have a job that has a great environment and that I will look forward to going to every day.”
This story was reprinted from the NCAA News Daily Direct on Monday April 5, 2010