By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – What does it mean to be a Tennessee Tech student-athlete? For many, it means a championship ring on one hand and a diploma in another.
But for student-athletes like Sarah Brandt, it means much, much more.
It stands for the time commitment for her sport – in Brandt's case, three sports with cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field involving a lot of her time – as well as the commitment for her academic endeavors and her efforts giving back outside the university setting.
Those three demands and her willingness to compete, to serve and to excel were easily distinguishing characteristics that helped make her a compelling choice for the Tech Woman of the Year Award.
"To receive Tech's Woman of the Year Award and be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year has been an incredible honor," Brandt said. "God is so good and it is amazing Tennessee Tech chooses to esteem student-athletes who integrate community service and campus involvement into their academic-athletic college regime. Through this institutional recognition, Tech has shown a very high level of respect to those who value well-rounded, selfless citizenship."
The award, handed out in May as part of the annual Golden Wings Awards, is given to a senior or graduate student-athlete who has completed her athletic eligibility during the 2016-17 season. The criteria for selecting the award include both athletic and academic accomplishments, as well as community and campus involvement and public service.
The other candidates for the award included Abi Gearing (women's soccer), Hannah Goolsby (women's basketball), Gabby Perez (softball) and Whitney Robertson (women's golf).
If one were to look at Brandt's athletic career, it would easily be assessed as a success. A two-year member of the Golden Eagle cross country and track and field teams, Brandt claimed the Ohio Valley Conference record with her teammates in the Distance Medley Relay, while she also held the school records in the 1,500m outdoor, the 4x800 indoor, the 4x800 outdoor, the DMR, the 800m indoor, the 800m outdoor, the 1,600m indoor, the 4x400m indoor and the 4x400m outdoor.
She won the 2016 Golden Wings Newcomer of the Year award, the team's Golden Eagle Award and was a finalist for the Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year.
But it has been an incredible effort for Brandt and her teams over the last two years as they have started to put the programs on the map among the conference and even nationally.
"Our indoor and outdoor track team in the last two years shattered nearly every record in the books," Brandt said. "The running program TTU has established is truly the next level of the discipline and worthy of the nation's top recruits. To be a major force in the pursuit of athletic excellence was a thrill. We pushed to the very edge of fitness and earned every inch of our personal bests. Breaking records in a Tech jersey felt nothing short of epic that I'll never forget."
Academically, Brandt was a fantastic student, compiling a 3.93 grade point average in interdisciplinary studies, with emphasis in journalism and communications. She was named four times to the Tech Athletic Director's Honor Roll and was on the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll in 2016. She was also selected to the U.S. Track and Field / Cross Country Coaches Association's Division I All-Academic Team. She also interned with the university's Communications and Marketing department.
Still, maintaining that balance was crucial.
"Balance is everything in college," Brandt said. "With a million things pulling for attention, I used time management as a competitive advantage. When I had an opportunity to serve others, I took it. Helping others energized me and added to the passion I raced with."
Brandt was also very much involved with service organizations. She was a member of Rotaract, the university level of Rotary, a student activist for the Americans for Liberty group, and was a member of Tech's Speech and Debate team.
This spring, Brandt traveled to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip, helping to deliver supplies and labor to the Hogar El Faro Orphanage.
"Through Rotaract, I was able to serve orphans of the Dominican Republic over spring break," Brandt said. "Despite a language barrier, we were able to communicate care and support both ways and connect through playing basketball games and laughing together. I am thankful for that unique opportunity to access and participate in the lives of the disadvantaged because it made me more human."
Brandt also answered the call of duty, serving as a member of the United States Naval Reserve and earning the rank of Petty Officer Third Class Master at Arms.
"Through my Naval Reserve commitment, I learned what patriotism in action really was," Brandt said. "Standing the watch both sharpened my national pride and heightened my desire to give back. We are so very blessed as a nation and I want to protect and add to God's amazing provisions."
Brandt received her degree from the university during the commencement exercises in May, but her story has really just begun as her future looks bright.
"I plan to earn a master's degree at Chico State University," Brandt said, "run a few marathons, coach, write and continue military service."
But what advice would she impart to her fellow student-athletes, present and future?
"My best advice for student-athletes is to work through down seasons," Brandt said. "Not every season is a breakthrough or every race a personal record, but fight through it and amazing things can happen. My best season came directly after my worst performing year ever. If I had stopped earlier, I would never have known what exactly was at stake. Injury and other setbacks are guaranteed to happen, so use those obstacles as building blocks. Make them work for you, not against you, because pain is an ally to make you more resilient, better equipped and able to relate to others. My advice, in other words, is to embrace hard times as a rite of passage to achieving your goals."
Tennessee Tech Athletics Woman of the Year
1991 – Dana Scott (Basketball)
1992 – Cecilia Ramsey (Basketball)
1993 – Bonnie Zoss (Volleyball / Track and Field / Basketball)
1994 – Beth Keylon (Softball)
1995 – Taunya Lovelace (Basketball)
1996 – Merrie Robin Caldwell (Cross Country / Track and Field)
1997 – Dena Adams (Track and Field / Cross Country)
1998 – Rachel Melchiorre (Volleyball)
1999 – Amber Clark (Basketball)
2000 – Diane Seng (Basketball / Volleyball) / Collin Carmichael (Basketball)
2001 – Rachael Gobble (Basketball) / Adrienne Fortmann (Softball)
2002 – Janet Holt (Basketball)
2003 – LeeAnne Mongar (Softball)
2004 – Alexis Boyd (Soccer) / Andrea Brown (Basketball)
2005 – Laura Sidorowicz (Volleyball)
2006 – Anne Morrow (Volleyball)
2007 – Kayla Garrison (Golf)
2008 – Beth Boden (Softball)
2009 – Kappy Lang (Volleyball)
2010 – Teresa Craig (Volleyball)
2011 – Brooke Mayo (Soccer)
2012 – Lindsey Reed (Soccer)
2013 – Kellie Cook (Basketball)
2014 – Meghan O'Donoghue (Cross Country / Track and Field)
2015 – Katie Phillips (Soccer)
2016 – Taylor Blazei (Soccer)
2017 – Sarah Brandt (Cross Country / Track and Field)
