EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville native Becca Starrett recently concluded a stellar career as a high school and college athlete in style.
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Starrett started her extraordinary career as an athlete First Baptist Academy in O’Fallon and then attended Missouri Baptist University on a scholarship. A celebration in her honor for graduation and her athletic achievements was done at the Bike Surgeon Shop in O’Fallon. Starrett was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® First Team, which was announced and selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Monday. She becomes the first two-time Academic All-American in Missouri Baptist school history after bringing home second team honors in 2018.
“We wanted to do something special for Becca for her graduation to celebrate her collegiate running accomplishments in cross country, outdoor and indoor track at Missouri Baptist University,” her father, Ed Starrett said. “Her accolades in those disciplines have been outstanding all while maintaining a 4.3 GPA. She had very humble beginnings as a solo cross country runner (the only person in the sport) at a very small 1A school First Baptist Academy.
“It has been a journey for sure,” Becca said. “It hasn’t been easy the whole way. I have had my fair amount of struggle I would say the one thing that has kept me going is to stay consistent even though I might have bad races or bad days or struggles, my coaches tell me trust your training. I draw a lot of strength on my faith in Jesus Christ. There are times where I would be anxious about races or performing and I would open my Bible and find peace.”
Her father and mother wanted to recognize her for all the hard work and dedication she turned in over the years as a student and athlete.
She said she she is so glad she did the early morning practices, rising at 4:30 a.m. and completed the work.
“It is great to have a team behind you so you aren’t doing things by yourself,” she said. “With girls supporting you we had a really tight knit team, so I am thankful for that. I have had teams in the past where they were very disorganized and not unified. We had a really unified and close-knit team, which was a blessing for my senior year.”
Now, Becca said she finds it weird not to have a practice or a meet ahead, but she will continue to run post college.
“Running has just been a big part of my life,” she said.
She added that she was very thankful to her parents for the celebration party at the end of the school year.
“My parents have been so supportive,” she said. “It was like a graduation party and a celebration of all my athletic accomplishments and my parents planned it.“
“It meant the world to me they did that. I had no idea they had it planned and my dad told me two or three weeks before so I could invite my friends. My coach from high school helped put pictures together and a slide show. I was very humbled by it. “
Becca plans to serve as an assistant coach a few days a week with middle schoolers this year and she has a biology degree. Her plan is to go to nursing school at Missouri Baptist and become a nurse midwife.
Here is a list of some of her collegiate accomplishments at MBU:
Becca Starrett College Athletic Accomplishments:
2019 Track and Field:
AMC Indoor Champions of Character Team
AMC Indoor Second Team All-Conference (3000m Run)
AMC Indoor Third Team All-Conference (5000m Run)
AMC Track Athlete of the Week (4/8)
AMC Outdoor First Team All-Conference (3000m Steeplechase)
AMC Outdoor Second Team All-Conference (1500m)
AMC Outdoor Third Team All-Conference (10,000m)
AMC Academic All-Conference
Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete
2018 Cross Country:
Spartan Athlete of the Week (9/3)
AMC Academic All-Conference
Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete
2018 Track and Field:
CoSida Academic All-American
Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete
AMC Academic All-Conference
AMC Outdoor First Team All-Conference (3K SteepleChase, 4x800 Relay)
AMC Indoor First Team All-Conference (4x800 Relay)
AMC Indoor Second Team All-Conference (3000m Run)
MBU Champions of Character Award
MBU Scholar Athlete Award
2017 Cross Country:
Spartan Athlete of the Week (9/18)
AMC Runner of the Week (9/18)
AMC All-Conference
AMC Academic All-Conference
2017 Track and Field:
AMC Academic All-Conference
AMC Outdoor Second Team All-Conference (10,000m Run)
AMC Outdoor First Team All-Conference (3000m Steeplechase)
AMC Indoor First Team All-Conference (Mile Run)
AMC Indoor Second Team All-Conference (3000m Run)
2016 Cross Country
Spartan Athlete of the Week (9/6, 11/8)
Spartan Athlete of the Month (September)
AMC Runner of the Week (9/5)
AMC All-Conference
AMC Champions of Character Team
AMC Academic All-Conference
2016 Track and Field
AMC Academic All-Conference
2015 Cross Country
AMC Freshman of the Year
NOTE: This story appeared on the Missouri Baptist University website today by Sam Dean:
ST. LOUIS—Women's Cross Country and Track and Field standout Becca Starrett was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® First Team, which was announced and selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Monday. The Edwardsville, Ill. becomes the first two-time Academic All-American in Missouri Baptist school history after bringing home Second Team honors in 2018.
Acknowledged as one of the most selective and prestigious awards in college athletics, the Google Cloud Academic All-America® program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Starrett concluded her Hall of Fame career at last month's NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships where she competed in the 3000m Steeplechase. In total, Starrett represented MBU in five NAIA National Championships in her four years—twice each in Outdoor Track & Field and Cross Country and once in Indoor Track & Field. She was a 14-time All-AMC selection earning two nods through Cross Country and 12 through the distance running events in Track & Field.
Academically, Starrett majored in Biology where she maintained a 4.06 GPA and graduated Summa Cum Laude (with highest honors) in May. She was a seven-time AMC Academic All-Conference selection and a three-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete.
On top of all that, at the 2018 MBU Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet, Starrett became the first Spartan student athlete to be honored with the MBU Champions of Character award and the MBU Scholar Athlete award in the same year.
Starrett will be honored again at the 2019 HOF banquet on October 17, 2019, alongside the three other Spartans who earned Academic All-American status in the 2018-19 year.
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