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Gunnarsson Named SEC Women’s Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for OTF

Baton Rouge, La.  –  Lisa Gunnarsson was named the 2021 SEC Women’s Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for the sport of outdoor track and field on Wednesday afternoon. She shares the award with Auburn’s Joyce Kimeli.

by Aaron Hyder | Assistant Communications Director
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Gunnarsson Named SEC Women’s Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for OTF

Baton Rouge, La.  –  Lisa Gunnarsson was named the 2021 SEC Women’s Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for the sport of outdoor track and field on Wednesday afternoon. She shares the award with Auburn’s Joyce Kimeli.

“Lisa embodies the true meaning of a student-athlete,” LSU track and field head coach Dennis Shaver said. “She gets it done in the classroom, gets it done in competition, and is just a great person to have on our team. We’re proud of all that she’s done thus far and we can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in the future.” 

Gunnarsson becomes LSU’s first recipient of this award in program history. The native of Paris, France, is a current mechanical engineering major and sports a tidy GPA of 4.139. The pole vaulter arrived at LSU in the fall of 2018 and has broken a number of records since, in competition and in the classroom.

She became LSU’s first ever woman to win a NCAA pole vault title earlier this year at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships when she cleared a school record height of 14′ 11.50″ (4.56 meters) in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She’s also the school record holder in the outdoor pole vault with a best clearance of 14′ 9″ (4.50 meters) in an LSU uniform; she cleared that bar near the end of March at the Texas Relays.

She’s a 3x All-American athletically and was named to the 2020 CoSIDA All-Academic First Team. In addition to those accolades, she’s a 2x SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll honoree and a two-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-academic recipient.

Gunnarsson and the LSU track and field team are set to compete at the SEC Outdoor Championships this Thursday through Saturday in College Station. Gunnarsson will compete in the pole vault at 6:05 p.m. CT Friday night.