She wakes up at 8 a.m. and is in class by 9 a.m. After her last class ends in the afternoon, she cycles on a stationary bike and lifts weights for two hours before going to field hockey practice. Then, she’s off to biology lab. That’s a typical Tuesday for one of Glamour magazine’s 2012 Top 10 College Women.
Meet Colleen Gulick, starting defender on the university’s field hockey team, three-time national cycling champion and junior bioengineering student in the Honors College.
“It’s really an honor, and I never could have expected that,” she said of being named a top college woman. “If you had asked me a year ago, I would have laughed.”
Gulick said she learned about the contest through a university listserv last summer and applied on a whim.
“I thought it sounded like an interesting contest,” she said. “I had a free day where I figured, why not give it a shot?”
She was shocked when a Glamour editor called her in February with the news that she won a spot in the top-10 list along with a $3,000 prize, a trip to New York and an appearance in the May 2012 issue.
For those who know Gulick, Glamour magazine’s interest in her did not come as a surprise.
“She’s not someone who flaunts her accomplishments, she’s never had a bragging moment,” Dawn Gulick, her mother, said. “As a mom, I’m happy for her when others acknowledge those things.”
Nationally, Gulick is the No. 6 female cyclist in the 20-to-29 age group, has earned more than 30 national medals and holds records as the first female cyclist to win a medal in a men’s competition and the most medals won at a single national championship, with eight awards.
Growing up the youngest of three children in Spring City, Penn., Gulick learned to embrace athletics from an early age. Her mother played field hockey and softball in college and her father was an avid cyclist.
“They encouraged me to get involved and do what makes me happy,” she said.
Trying new activities and challenging herself gave Gulick a sense of personal satisfaction, she said. Since elementary school, she has participated in track, soccer, lacrosse, ice hockey, field hockey and cycling.
“She’s just so driven,” Dawn Gulick said. “Everything she does, she puts her heart into it – she just has such passion.”
Gulick has too many medals, awards and trophies to keep in her room – so far, there are more than 200, including a 2007 junior Olympic gold medal for field hockey.
“I framed my first national medal from cycling, but I’ve just kept the rest in boxes in the attic,” she said, laughing.
Although many of Gulick’s competitors cycle for a living, she uses their success as her motivation.
“When you find a sport you love and a group you love to train with, the people make you enjoy it every day,” Gulick said. “When you’re around people who are better than you, you strive to get better – it’s about surrounding yourself with the right people.”
Field hockey coach Missy Meharg said Gulick finds a way to keep the team as high a priority as cycling, sometimes making up practices on her own if her schedule conflicts. If anything, Meharg said, Gulick’s cycling has helped her on the field – she consistently places in the top two in team aerobic tests.
“She’s exceedingly private and humble and hardworking and some of the team doesn’t even know about her talent on the bike,” Meharg said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard her complain – she’s tough as nails – she keeps a rigorous schedule, and that’s not easy for the average college student.”
But her competitive drive goes beyond athletics; Gulick has excelled in school, becoming the youngest person to ever be recruited by the Honors College, at 16, and taking on the rigorous pre-med program with a bioengineering major.
Gulick said she expects the competition to continue after graduation.
“Hopefully, I’ll be an orthopedic surgeon.” she said. “I’ll have to give up field hockey, but my cycling career will continue and I’m hoping to make the 2016 Olympic team.”
Despite these accomplishments, Gulick’s family and coaches said she hasn’t let any of her success go to her head.
“She leads by example,” Meharg said. “She doesn’t judge, she doesn’t brag, she’s not rah-rah-ing.”
blasey@umdbk.com
