Iowa
State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2004
FALL 2005
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Cover Story:
>>Athletes & Academics
- Steve Paris
- Lyndsey Medders & Megan
- Ronhovde
- Scott Coleman
- Erin Dethloff
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Dancing in Rhythm
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Sports
LYNDSEY MEDDERS:
'YOU ONLY LIVE LIFE ONCE'
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Major: Sports Management
Sport: Basketball
April is Lyndsey Medders’ least-favorite month.
“I love being busy,” she says. “The hardest time for me is right after the season when i have four hours to finish an assignment instead of two.”
No, Medders isn’t crazy. She just craves the structure that the life of a Division I student-athlete
has to offer. The junior point guard-slash-future
coach has bought into the philosophy of her current
coach, Bill Fennelly, who knows that a successful
program – both on the court and in the classroom
– depends on passion, accountability, and the spirit of team.
“The beauty of being on a team,” medders says, “is that everyone accepts responsibility and contributes
individually. I don’t want to be the reason why
we have a 3.3 [team GPA] instead of a 3.5.” Iowa
State currently ranks fifth nationally among Division I
schools for its women’s basketball team GPA.
Medders says she couldn’t imagine her life without basketball – and everything else – no matter how tightly packed her schedule might be.
“You only live life once,” she says, “so why
would you want to spend it bored?”
MEGAN RONHOVDE:
'WHAT AM I GOING TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY?'
Hometown: Barrett, Minn.
Major: Business Management
Sport: Basketball
Megan Ronhovde is a studier.
She knows all the quietest crannies of Parks
Library. She guns for an A, unless she’s decided
B is a more realistic goal. She’s not a nerd; she’s
just a farm kid from Minnesota who knows what
she wants and what it’s gonna take to get there.
“Some people can get the grades without studying,”
Ronhovde says. “I, unfortunately, am not one
of those people. I have to put the time in to get
the grades that I want.”
Like her close friend and roommate Medders,
Ronhovde likes putting in the time and having a
full schedule. “The thing I learned when I made
the transfer from high school to college is that
college is 10 times more time-consuming,” she
says. “You learn really quick that you have to be
on top of things.”
And when she finishes school, Ronhovde knows
she’ll be ready. She’s learned how to dig her way
out of a hole, she says. She’s learned how to set
realistic goals and how to make herself stronger by
asking herself daily, “What am I going to achieve
today?”
“The harder you work now,” she says of basketball,
of school, and of life, “the easier it’s going to
be later.”