CLEVELAND – The National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) has announced the recipients of its 2023 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.

"N4A is honored to recognize five outstanding student-athletes with our annual Wilma Rudolph Award. These student-athletes have overcome many obstacles in their lives, and each has demonstrated grit, resilience, determination, and strength" said Jackie Nicholson, N4A President and Executive Director of Athletics, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). "On behalf of the N4A Board of Directors and our membership, I would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2023 N4A Wilma Rudolph Award. We are proud of their accomplishments and excited to honor them."

The 2023 Wilma Rudolph recipients are Madi Bednarik, Monmouth University, Cahiem Brown, Norfolk State University, Caroline Crouse, James Madison University, Abdelrahman El-Araby, University of Louisville, and Ekhardt van der Watt, Idaho State University. These five student-athletes will be honored in conjunction with the 2023 N4A Convention on June 12.

Madi Bednarik, Monmouth University
Junior year was full of challenges for Madi Bednarik. It started off with an obstacle that felt life changing, and was the toughest thing she had done yet: transferring. Starting over at a new school was hard enough. The image she had of college was now starkly opposite of what she planned. After a season she hadn't thought possible for herself, starting on a division one team, playing her best lacrosse, surrounded by people who actually cared about and understood her, Madi was planning a perfect summer and senior year. When shoulder pain she assumed was end of the season soreness turned debilitating and was revealed to be a cancerous tumor, the best year of her life turned into a waking nightmare. In the wake of a lymphoma diagnosis, the loss of bodily autonomy, and the strength she had afforded herself from years of commitment as an athlete, Madi survived the unimaginable. Returning to lacrosse after a whirlwind 3 months was another unexpectedly difficult challenge. After chemotherapy it was her hope that she would be able to slide right back into her life as she had known it, but we know life is never that easy, and that was wishful thinking. Madi thinks resilience is not as seamless as we would like it to be. It's raw, ugly and vulnerable, and strength is shown in the embracing of it.

Through recovery Madi has written about her experiences in journal entries, essays, and social media posts. Sharing her words has been both healing to her and inspiring to others. With a unique style and rare experiences, Madi plans to continue to use her writing to give a voice to young adults like her. In using her new perspective from her less than optimal junior, year Madi hopes to help people develop their compassion and empathy by encouraging them to move through their own personal challenges with openness and authenticity. The acquired skill set that comes with surviving cancer has inspired Madi to apply her undergrad psychology education to support AYA cancer patients and their families through treatment and surveillance.