The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/480355
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Student-Athlete Of The Month Softball Junior Sierra Lawrence Following the recent ASU Invitational (Feb. 27-March 1), junior center fielder Sierra Lawrence was selected as Michigan's first-ever USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week after going 11 for 14 with seven extra base-hits, including five home runs, and leading the team to a 5-0 stretch spanning the weekend. Lawrence has been starring on the Michigan soft- ball team since she was a true freshman. As a rookie, Lawrence started 60 of 63 games for the Wolverines, and she followed that up by starting all 59 games during her sophomore year. Her junior season is off to another solid start where she's been in the starting lineup for all 28 contests. She's had the most at-bats on the team with 90 and boasts a .367 batting average for a 24-4 team that was ranked No. 3 in the country as of March 12. Lawrence is from Georgia, and while her profile says she's from Atlanta, there's more to it than that. "I actually didn't grow up in the big city," she said. "I was about 40 minutes east of the city in a small town called Snellville. I went to a public school until I was in eighth grade, and then my mom thought it would be better for me to get a better education and be more disciplined at a private school. So from my freshman year of high school on I went to Greater Atlanta Christian." Her experience at GAC allowed her to develop the study habits that would eventually get her into Michigan, where she is enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. "At GAC, I had to work hard and make sure I stayed on top of my grades," she said. "Coming to Michigan it kind of all translated. I got even busier than I was in high school, obviously, and I definitely needed to focus more on my academics at Michigan. My high school experiences helped that a lot. "Something that has always helped me is making an outline or a study guide for everything for myself. Even if the professor gives one or doesn't, I still like to make an outline of what I'm going to be reviewing." Her go-getter attitude allowed for her to be named Academic All-Big Ten last year, which is not an easy task within her major, cognitive science. The field was not her initial plan. Lawrence, who was named Academic All-Big Ten last year, majors in cognitive science, which combines computer science, linguis- tics, philosophy and psy- chology. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS