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Inside Hokie Sports
I
n the throes of taking classes, finishing
homework, doing undergraduate research
and working on her burgeoning golf game,
Virginia Tech women’s golfer Elizabeth Bose
nearly passed on filling out the application for
the Skelton Award.
“I just had a lot going on at the time,” she
said. “Then I thought, ‘This is something I
should do.’ It was definitely a good return on
the investment.”
For sure, as she, along with football player
Eric Gallo, were announced as the winners
of the 2017 Skelton Award for Academic
Excellence in Athletics at the Athletics
Director’s Honors Breakfast held April 23 at
the Inn at Virginia Tech.
Each recipient of the top honor handed out
by the Virginia Tech Athletics Department
receives a scholarship of $5,000. The Skelton
Award, named after the late Dr. Bill and Peggy
Skelton, goes out each year to a rising junior,
senior or fifth-year male and female student-
athlete who has participated in intercollegiate
athletics for at least two seasons at Tech and
who holds an overall grade-point average of
3.40 or better.
“I was really surprised and felt very blessed
to achieve such an honor, especially since I’m
only a sophomore going into my junior year,”
Bose said. “It’s really nice to be recognized for a
lot of work that I’ve put in.”
Gallo, a rising senior from Richboro,
Pennsylvania, echoed similar sentiments.
“I had a flashback to my freshman year when
I saw [women’s soccer standout] Katie Yensen
win the award [in 2014], and she was doing the
speech,” Gallo said. “I remember sitting in the
Inn and listening to her, and thinking tomyself,
‘What an amazing accomplishment for her!
Congratulations to her. That’s an incredible
honor for her.’ Then I thought, ‘Wow, what
an honor to be mentioned with the Skeltons!’
They’re such an influential family. They’re so
generous and really carry out the university
motto of ‘Ut Prosim’ [That I May Serve].
“I wasn’t sure that I was going to win because
I know how competitive it is. It’s amazing
how driven the student-athletes are here, not
only sports-wise, but also off the field. To be
honored amongst all my friends in athletics, it’s
really amazing because there are a lot of great
student-athletes here.”
Bose, a rising junior from Norfolk, Virginia,
led the Tech women’s golf team this past
season, recording five top-25 finishes in 11
events encompassing the fall and spring
semesters. She came in third at the Starmount
Fall Classic this past fall and finished 21st at the
ACC Championships.
Bose is pursuing a degree in biochemistry,
while also seeking minors in both chemistry
and French. She spent a portion of last summer
doing undergraduate research that involves
basic metabolism and studying enzymes under
the direction of Dr. Robert White, a professor
in the department of biochemistry, and a
doctoral student.
She somehow balances classes, golf,
research and homework. She also belongs to
the prestigious Phi Sigma Biological Honor
Society and participated in an initiative that
involved issuing grant money to local schools
in support of science programs.
Bose, named an All-American Scholar last
year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association,
hasn’t narrowed her final career objectives yet,
but admits being interested in research, which
compelled her to pursue her current research
position last summer.
“I wanted to see what research really was
since I had an idea in my mind,” she said. “I
realized that I needed experience to see what
I’d be getting myself into. I was only going to
do it during the summer [last summer], but the
people in the lab that I’m in trust me enough
to let me in the lab at night, and that’s a really
special opportunity. I don’t think that’s typical.
“It’s been a worthwhile experience just
seeing everything that goes into science and
seeing how much commitment it takes—and
patience. Everything moves around all the
time. It’s been cool to see how I can use skills
from golf in science. The frustrations that I feel
are very similar in both settings, which has been
cool, just from the patience and perseverance
that it takes.”
Elizabeth
Bose and Eric
Gallo took home
the top honor
handed out by the
athletics department —
and both have their sights
on accomplishing even
bigger things in their futures
by
Jimmy Robertson
Bose
and
Gallo
winners of
SKELTON
AWARDS
for
Academic
Excellence
in Athletics