At times in recent years, the concept of a student- athlete has been eroded because of the lure of big professional contracts, alleged cheating scandals and lax attitudes regarding academic success.
But senior Sarah Stevens of the ASU track and field team is proving that when it comes to balancing school and sports, grades supersede everything else.
Humility, hard work and academics are all qualities that hold an important place for Stevens.
“In my estimation, there hasn’t been a more productive student-athlete,” ASU coach Greg Kraft said.
Stevens is currently working on her master’s of education after graduating last May with a bachelor’s in kinesiology.
It might surprise some, that a student can be so focused on achieving great things in the classroom and still have time to dominate their competitors on the field.
And the word “dominate” barely scratches the surface in describing how Stevens has owned the throwing events since she was in high school at Fort Collins High School in Colorado.
At the high-school level, Stevens burst onto the radar of the ASU coaching staff after compiling four state titles in the shot put and the discus.
In fact, she never tasted defeat in her senior season in the two events.
Steven’s dominating career had its beginnings in Hot Springs, S.D.
In South Dakota, Stevens was already competing for her high-school track team while she was still in seventh grade.
Her team didn’t have a throwing coach, so her grandfather tutored her in the art of the throwing events.
Stevens said she didn’t know where she wanted to go with track because basketball was her main focus athletically.
Shortly after her freshman year of high school, her family decided to make the move from the tiny town of Hot Springs to Fort Collins, Colo.
Stevens said her family moved to be closer to her sister, who had moved to Colorado to attend college.
At Fort Collins she captained the track and field team her junior and senior seasons on her way to all-state selections and track athlete of the year honors in both seasons.
Schools around the country were taking notice, and the letters flooded the Stevens household.
After taking official visits to powerhouses like Florida and Texas A&M, Stevens decide to soak up the warmth of the Valley and become a Sun Devil.
After redshirting her first year at ASU, she wasted no time making her presence felt.
At the 2006 national indoor meet, Stevens earned the first of many All-American honors, set a school record and took third in the shot put.
“It was a bit unexpected,” Stevens said. “I knew I had to work hard in order to be successful. I was still young in the sport.”
Work hard is exactly what she did, and when the outdoor season rolled around, she claimed another All-American honor in the shot put and won the Pac-10 championship.
Stevens came back even stronger in the following season by winning the national indoor title in the shot put and adding two more All-American honors to her resume in the shot put and weight throw.
Her effort was instrumental in the women capturing their first national championship.
Over the course of the next two seasons, Stevens gathered seven more All-American plaques and her second national title, which came in the discus.
Heading into her final season as a Sun Devil, it seemed as if she would be the one to beat when the national indoor meet came calling.
On the first day of competition, Stevens entered the weight throw with the second-best mark in the country, but fell short of her goal of another title, finishing fourth.
“Absolutely, [I was disappointed]; I always have the mentality where I’m better than [the competition]. I think you have to if you want to win,” said Stevens.
Her throw didn’t win the title, but it was good for yet another All-American honor, which made her the most decorated athlete in Sun Devil history.
When asked about being the best of all time at ASU, Stevens said, “I don’t really think about it that much. That’s not what I do it for. It’s very humbling to be in the caliber of [athletes like] Jacquelyn Johnson.”
Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.
