Scavelli, Pankratz Share Medal of Honor Bond
4/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
April 21, 2016
By Brad Rudner
Shannon Scavelli couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Upon arriving at Crisler Center for last Tuesday's Student-Athlete Recognition Celebration (April 12), one of the academic counselors told Scavelli, "You're going to go up a few times tonight."
Scavelli already knew she was going to receive a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship, but she was mildly surprised when she heard her name called for the Rachael Townsend Award, a community service-based honor named for a former Michigan field hockey player.
That could've been it. But no more than two minutes passed until she heard her name called a third time, this time for the Big Ten Medal of Honor, the highest achievement a senior student-athlete can receive at the University of Michigan.
In the 43-year history of field hockey at the University of Michigan, nobody had ever been awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Scavelli didn't know that until she got back to her seat.
Waiting for her there was her coach, Marcia Pankratz.
"Welcome to the club," she told Scavelli.
Pankratz played field hockey at Iowa and received the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1986.
A few days after the ceremony, when asked to describe how it felt to receive the award, Scavelli kept going back to one word.
"Honored," she said. "When Marcia told me I was the first one, I was like, 'Wait a second!' I could list off so many amazing alumni who could've gotten this. To be able to represent this school is an incredible honor. I'm truly grateful."
Having received the award herself three decades earlier, Pankratz knows what it signifies. She's seen a lot of players come through her program in 16 years but none like Scavelli.
"She exemplifies excellence in almost every way," she said. "In the classroom, she set the bar for our team. Responsible. Very mature. Polite. Respectful. Great leader, really leads by example in everything. And on the field, you see a player who just plays hard every time."
"Take all those holistic things into consideration, and you have a high achiever. You have to be a high achiever to be at the University of Michigan, and Shannon is certainly one of those."
-- Marcia Pankratz on Shannon Scavelli
Scavelli is set to get her undergraduate degree in psychology at the end of the month and will immediately turn her sights towards graduate school where she plans to get a master's in social work.
On the field, she played in 84 games (71 starts), tallying 24 goals and 10 assists. She is a two-time Longstreth/NFHCA All-West Region selection (first team as a senior) and was an All-Big Ten (first team) selection as a senior.
A native of Yorktown Heights, New York, Scavelli came to Michigan not knowing what she wanted to study. Her first visit to C.S. Mott Children Hospital changed that.
Going to Mott on Thursdays, as many student-athletes do, is as rewarding an experience as there is. Scavelli remembers the emotion she felt while visiting the child psych unit. One of the patients, with the help of a nurse on call, shared her story to the group in the room. Scavelli didn't go into details, only to say that it was "deep and personal."
She walked out of the room, and it was like a light bulb went on.
She's gone nearly every Thursday since.
"This is going to sound silly, but I get a high off of going," said Scavelli. "It's an incredible experience seeing a kid's face light up when you just go in and say hi. As a student-athlete, I have an opportunity to make someone's day. It's a blessing to be able to do that.
"When you're given an opportunity to be a student-athlete for four years, you have to make sacrifices. I can party after school, when I'm done. I can party after grad school. I don't have to do it now. That's always going to be there. But I'm a student-athlete right now, so I have the opportunity to go make a kid smile at Mott. I'm not going to be able to do that in 10 years."
In addition to those visits, Scavelli is a member of A.C.T. (Athletes for Community Transformation), a community outreach program that visits and interacts with children at the Bryant Community Center every other Tuesday. She also coaches with two local field hockey clubs and spent her senior year spring break on a trip to Vietnam as part of the department's Let's Do Go program.
Between required duties as both a student and an athlete, it's a wonder how Scavelli finds all that time to give back to others. It's what made her the perfect choice for the Rachael Townsend Award.
For a Michigan field hockey player, there are few honors that mean more. Townsend (nee Geishardt) played at Michigan 1992-95 and had an unbridled passion to serve her community, mainly in mentoring and coaching children.
Tragically, Townsend died of cardiac arrest not long after finishing the Chicago Marathon in October 2003. She was only 29.
Today, the award is given annually to the student-athlete(s) who make significant and selfless contributions to the community through their time, talent and dedication throughout the year.
This past fall, Scavelli, along with teammates Eliza Stein and Mackenzie Ellis, created a "heart health" initiative in which the team went through CPR and AED training.
Scavelli's leadership ability is not something that's lost on her head coach.
"Every player on our team brings a different dynamic," explained Pankratz. "Shannon is incredibly responsible. She does everything right and does it the right way."
Though Scavelli is hanging up the field hockey stick as a player, she could eventually return to the game. She wants to use her degrees to work in a mental health facility. But she also mentioned an interest in coaching, possibly following in Pankratz's footsteps.
As for the biggest lesson she's learned from her Medal of Honor-winning coach?
"Especially in the offseason when workouts are tough and it's cold outside, she'd always say, 'The sun's going to come up tomorrow,'" said Scavelli. "No matter what happens today, you'll be able to start over tomorrow. That's stuck with me."
"Being a student-athlete is challenging. A lot of people don't realize how tough it is. It's like having a full-time job and being a full-time student at the same time. Especially as a freshman coming in, it's hard. But looking back, Marcia was right."
