ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Emily Lesher, a recent Nazareth College graduate and a member of the swimming and diving team, has been named the 2008 Empire 8 Conference Woman of the Year. Lesher will represent the conference in national balloting for the NCAA Woman of the Year award later this summer. The award is presented to a student-athlete who excels in academics, athletics, leadership and service.
"You get a chance to have an Emily Lesher in your program once in a lifetime," said Nazareth Athletic Director Pete Bothner. "She is an unbelievably talented athlete, but an even better person. I am pleased that the conference recognized her achievements."
A native of Sherill, N.Y. and a graduate of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, Lesher earned All-America honors nine times and captured the 2007 national championship in the 400-yard individual medley. She was selected as Swimmer of the Meet for the second consecutive time in the 2008 E8 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships and was honored as the first Swimmer of the Year this season. She also was chosen as the Athlete of the Meet at the 2006 conference championships.
This season alone, Lesher won the state title and broke the Empire 8 Association and Championship records in the 200-yard IM, shattered her own school record and broke her own conference records in the 200-yard backstroke, and captured the state and conference titles in the 400-yard IM. She was a four-year conference champion in the 200- and 400-yard IM events and the 200-yard backstroke.
A Communication Sciences and Disorders major, Lesher was the 2008 recipient of Nazareth's Robert A. Kidera Scholar-Athlete award, presented annually to the Nazareth senior who has excelled athletically and academically. She also was awarded a $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and will use it to pursue a graduate degree in Speech Pathology from Ithaca College. She also was recently honored for the second year in a row as the local college Athlete of the Year by the Rochester Press-Radio Club.
"Emily has obviously enjoyed a very decorated swimming career with many records and honors to her credit, but she has also managed to excel in the classroom and holds firmly the values of social responsibility," said Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano. "She encompasses everything that we value in the Empire 8 and is most deserving of Woman of the Year."
Lesher also has been very active at Nazareth and in the community. A student-athlete mentor for four years, she was a presenter at a local elementary school this year for National Sportsmanship Day in March. She served as a Study Hall Coordinator and as a student member on the Athletic Facility Planning Committee.