Lisa Thomas Duits Memorial Scholarship

Established by family and friends to provide scholarship assistance to Western Colorado University student athletes participating in cross country. Lisa Duits, a 2009 Western graduate, had a stellar athletic and academic career.

Lisa Thomas was a walk-on student-athlete to Western in 2005 and spent two years not being very competitive. She steadily worked her way up to being a top female runner by her senior
year helping her team to finish 3rd in the Cross Country NCAA championships in 2008 and she finished 2nd at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in the steeplechase in 2009. Besides being a strong runner, Lisa was an excellent student. She carried close to a 4.0 in Exercise and Sports Science as well as Physical Education. After graduation, she married her high school sweetheart Zach Duits. Lisa and Zach stayed in Gunnison so he could finish his degree and she could continue running while working as an assistant coach for the Cross Country and Track and Field teams.

All of this changed in a blink of an eye. Lisa was killed in a tragic car accident north of Almont in October 2009, a month after her wedding. She was a true Mountaineer and this scholarship is in her honor.

ELIGIBILITY
-Athletics: Must be a member of the Cross Country team
-Year in School (after completion of current spring semester): Incoming full-time freshmen through seniors are eligible