The COVID-19 pandemic certainly caused upheaval, notably pushing all 2020-21 collegiate sports seasons into the spring semester. But Isaac Alderfer (Broadway, Va./Broadway) also used that upheaval to his advantage, thriving under unique opportunities for both flexible training and extra-curricular projects.
Boosted by outstanding efforts in all aspects of his title of “student-athlete,” Alderfer was named to the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) Academic All-American Third Team. The EMU junior was one of only 44 men named to the Academic All-America teams, and the only athlete from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference named to any of the men’s or women’s teams.
“It feels extra special to have been selected for this award this year because I feel like I was able to grow a lot in a lot of different areas of my life,” said Alderfer. “The past year has gifted me with the unique opportunity to have space to broaden my academic experience while also staying excited about running and improving my times enough to finally reach the national level of competition.”
Alderfer had a dominant spring semester on the track, finishing with a trip to the NCAA National Championships in the 800m. He re-wrote the EMU track & field history books, breaking the program records for the mile, indoor 800m, outdoor 800 and outdoor 1500m. His mile time of 4:11.91 also broke the ODAC record, and he toppled the ODAC Championships mark in the outdoor 1500m. After the ODAC meet, Alderfer was named the Track Athlete of the Meet and the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete.
At Nationals, he elected to run in only the 800m after also having a qualifying mark in the 1500m. Between indoor and outdoor seasons, the middle distance runner earned All-Region honors four times, and was named the Track Athlete of the Year twice by the Virginia Sports Information Directors. He was named the EMU Athlete of the Year at the end of the season.
Holding a 3.97 GPA as an environmental science major, Alderfer combined his photography minor when he participated in and photographed a northern saw-whet owl banding project this past November. He is a member of EMU’s Sustainable Food Initiative club, conducts biology research on campus and is a barista in Common Grounds (EMU’s coffeehouse). This summer, Alderfer was the events coordinator and a participant in the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions Climate Ride, a bike ride across the United States.
“I had a really busy couple of semesters, but because of how our seasons played out with more limited competition due to COVID restraints, I was able to have more flexibility with how I used my time,” Alderfer explained. “Especially in the fall, I had the chance to focus on a number of really neat academic projects that took a lot of time and energy because we did not have a cross country season during that time. Coach Bob was really instrumental in keeping training interesting, and keeping me motivated in new ways despite the lack of competition.”
Coach Bob Hepler spearheaded Alderfer’s training and helped balance his involvements outside of running.
“Isaac is that rare top-level athlete who values his education and service to others more than his individual athletic achievements,” Hepler said. “He is humble, hard-working, and selfless. Being his coach is a joyful privilege.”