April 11, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. - KU track and field's Rebecca Neville has been selected as a Big 12 Conference Chick-Fil-A Community of Champions honoree for the 2012 spring season. The conference recognizes one athlete from each institution, regardless of sport, based on academics, community service and leadership/sportsmanship.

Neville, a junior multi-event specialist from Merrillville, Ind., is a two-year letterwinner for the Jayhawks in track and field and has already left her mark as one of the top female multi-event competitors in the program's history. An All-Big 12 performer each year of her KU career, Neville has already collected a strong list of athletic accolades. She ranks fifth in both the pentathlon and heptathlon on the all-time KU performance lists and holds the fifth-fastest 60-meter hurdle time in school history.

Not only has Neville excelled on the track and in the field, but she is just as driven and successful in the classroom. A music education major, she has maintained a GPA of over 3.0 each semester of her KU career. Furthermore, she has been a member of KU's Athletics Director's Honor Rolls every semester while at Kansas.

Despite her busy schedule of practice, meets and class, Neville has found time to contribute to her community as well. She is an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and has participated in several Habitat for Humanity builds. She is also the vice president of the Black Student Union and has volunteered for the Lawrence homeless shelter on numerous occasions.

Neville is the second KU track athlete to be named to the Big 12's Community of Champions this year as senior distance runner Rebeka Stowe was recognized among the 2011-12 winter honorees.

Chick-fil-A will donate $4,500 to the University of Kansas for Neville's efforts.