Academics come first at Hiram

HIRAM -- "We are students first and athletes after that. The emphasis and focus [are] on academics, which it should be," said Lyndsey Manos, a senior midfielder and forward for the Hiram College women's soccer team.
Manos, who graduated from Newton Falls High School, was espousing her team's philosophy of putting the priority on academics, which also is reinforced by the school, that has helped the Terriers to maintain their high national academic reputation for the eighth straight year.
With Manos' help, Hiram recently won its eighth straight National Soccer Association of America Adidas Team Academic Award with a 3.17 team grade-point average for 2005-06.
Manos, the daughter of Jeff and Robin Manos, contributed a 3.2 GPA as a psychology major, and has been an integral part of that academic success for the last three years.
And she and her teammates appear headed to their ninth straight award because they already launched the 2006-07 academic year with a 3.23 team GPA for the first semester.
Hiram was one of 316 soccer teams (81 men; 235 women) that posted a team GPA of 3.0 or higher to win the award for 2005-06.
Academics, athleticsare 1-2 in importance
Manos, who won her fourth varsity soccer letter in 2006 and finished her career with 26 points on 11 goals and four assists in 73 games, said that she learned about academics coming first when she joined the team as a freshman after a four-year career for Newton Falls High.
"We came here for a reason and soccer is one of the great [extra] opportunities we get," said Manos, who took 86 career shots and had a .128 shot percentage. "Academics is a priority. We are a strong group of girls that is able to help each other. We help each other academically."
Manos is planning to graduate in May and would like to attend graduate school, but still is open to her choice of careers.
"I haven't decided what career I am going to pursue at this point. I am thinking about perhaps getting into the animal behavior field," said Manos. "I worked at the laboratory of neural behavior investigation where you study animals. They only have capuchin monkeys there."
Manos' best season was as a freshman when she led the team in goals (5), points (12) and shots taken (37), and also had two assists in 19 games.
National award becomesimportant goal for team
Third-year coach Bob Dean said his players feel that winning the NSAA Adidas Team Academic Award is one of their most important team goals on an annual basis.
"It is now a part of their core values," added Dean. "It is first and foremost in their minds to earn a ninth-consecutive award, and they are well on their way to doing that based on their grades from the first semester of this academic year."
Dean credits this team priority to high standards and tradition, and said the award serves as a measuring tool.
"The commitment by our student-athletes to the incredible academic rigor here at Hiram College is hard to measure. This is one way that they can see their efforts pay off," he said.
Hiram's high academic standards were maintained despite the Terriers' losing record of 13-59-2 over the four-year span, including 3-15 last season.
Manos sees positive signsof turnaround in soccer
But Manos said she has seen convincing signs that the soccer program is making big strides toward improvement.
"A few more years and definitely we will be in the spotlight. I have seen improvement every year since I have been there, and we are recruiting better talent and future looks brighter for the team," said Manos, whose scoring fell off her last two seasons because she was switched from offense to defense.
"My freshman year, I played a lot of forward in the attack position," said Manos. But, "I played a lot of positions, and the last couple of years I played a lot of defense. They put me wherever they felt they needed me, everywhere except goalie."
Manos is hoping to continue playing soccer on a recreational basis, and perhaps do some coaching later.
"I love playing soccer. It is my hobby," she pointed out.
John Kovach covers area colleges for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com and check his blogs at Vindy.com.