A four-year starter on the University of Oregon lacrosse team, Natalie Modly Schmidt, now a first-year student at the LECOM School of Dental Medicine in Bradenton, recently was honored with the Pacific 12 Conference Leadership Award. The award was established to recognize student-athletes who have served on institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) and who have demonstrated leadership. To qualify, the nominees must have completed their final season of athletics eligibility, be enrolled in graduate school, have been a letter-winner in a varsity sport and have served a minimum of one year on the campus SAAC. Leadership activities, community service, grade-point average and athletic achievement also are factors in the selection.

In her athletic career, Schmidt earned a spot on the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll in 2017 and 2018 and was named a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic Scholar-Athlete in 2016 (prior to Pac-12 play). In 2018, she earned Pac-12 All-Academic first-team honors as well as the University of Oregon Jaqua Award given to the graduating senior student-athlete with the highest Grade Point Average. She graduated in March with a 3.90 GPA in general sciences and also received a Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship in July 2018.

Schmidt also served as the co-director and executive board member of Oregon’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and volunteered for the Special Olympics, the HOSEA Homeless Shelter, National Girls in Sports Day, Read Across America Day and monthly events for cancer patients. She also traveled to Nicaragua in 2016 as a dental assistant to provide medical care and dental hygiene educational courses to underserved communities.

LECOM School of Dental Medicine