When faced with multiple demanding commitments, most people are forced to make sacrifices.
But Hillsdale College senior Victoria Addis (Massillon, OH/Jackson) refused to compromise. Whether in the classroom, the community, the pool, or the softball diamond, she was unwilling to give anything less than her level best.
That determination allowed her to excel both as a student and as a dual-sport athlete at Hillsdale College over the past four seasons, and her achievements helped make her the female recipient of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2019-20 school year.
Each year, the G-MAC chooses one male and one female student-athlete from that year's graduating class to receive the Scholar-Athlete Award, honoring a student-athlete who has compiled the most outstanding record in athletics, scholarship and leadership among the student-athletes at its 13 member institutions. Addis is the first Hillsdale College athlete in the Chargers' three-year association with the G-MAC to win the Scholar-Athlete Award.
As an athlete, Addis was part of a rare group in modern times to play two sports collegiately, women's swimming and softball, and also part of an even more selective group to be a major contributor to both teams she was a part of.
For the swim team, Addis was an important part of the Chargers' 2019-20 G-MAC/MEC title, the program's first in school history, placing fifth in the 100 breaststroke at the 2020 Championship meet and swimming on three relays (200 Medley, 400 Medley, 200 Freestyle) that finished in the top three in their events.
All told, Addis finished her swim career with six top 8 finishes in G-MAC Championship events, and twice earned All-G-MAC honors, making the All-G-MAC third team for the 2017-18 season and earning honorable mention in 2019-20.
"It's unheard of in Division II to have an athlete who is such an integral part of two different sports, and it takes a very special person to do that while upholding the kind of academic standards for herself that Victoria has," Hillsdale College Women's Swimming and Diving coach Kurt Kirner said. "In 30 years of coaching swimming collegiately, I've never seen anyone balance academics and multiple athletic commitments as successfully as Victoria has.
"She has set the standard for every student-athlete who jumps in the pool for us."
On the softball diamond, Addis was a four-year contributor and team captain for the Chargers who finished her career with a .331 batting average in 309 plate appearances, adding 24 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs, 52 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
She was an important part of Hillsdale's back-to-back runs to the G-MAC Tournament title in 2018 and 2019, and her break-out performance in the 2019 tourney played no small part in the Chargers' championship. Over four games in 2019, Addis went 7 of 14 at the plate with five RBIs and two home-runs, including the go-ahead homer in extra innings to beat Kentucky Wesleyan in the winner's bracket semifinal contest.
"It's rare enough to see someone play two sports in college, but to be a leader in both sports and to accomplish the things Victoria did is just simply amazing," Hillsdale College coach Kyle Gross said. "To me, Victoria's achievements stand out, but also her character.
"She's the most genuine person you'll ever meet, and someone who made everyone around her better every day with her positive attitude. For that reason alone we were extremely blessed to have her be a part of this program for the last four seasons."
Despite critical roles on both the women's swimming and softball teams, arguably Addis' most impressive accomplishments at Hillsdale College came in the classroom.
Addis graduated this spring with a 3.95 GPA and a B.S. in Biochemistry, one of Hillsdale College's most demanding majors. For her work in the classroom, she was named a 2020 American Institute of Chemists' Outstanding Senior Award Recipient at Hillsdale College, to go with an American Chemical Society POLYED Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry that she received in 2017.
She made the Academic All-G-MAC team in both women's swimming and softball all four years in college, and received the Hillsdale College's President's Scholar-Athlete Award for in both 2019 and 2020, as well as earning membership in the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary, the Iota Sigma Phi Chemistry Honorary, the Sigma Zeta Math and Science Honorary and the Hillsdale Lamplighters Honorary.
While studying for her degree at Hillsdale College, Addis also was active in scientific research, receiving a LAUREATES Scholarship to conduct a study on gene cloning, PCR, Transformations and Protein Isolation, and presenting the results at a Hillsdale College Research Symposium held in February of 2020.
Balancing the demands of both of her sports, her classwork and her research, Addis still found time to be active in the community, doing charity work with the Appalachia Service Project, Journal Buddies, the Red Cross, Athletes Intervarsity and the Pre-Professional Society, among others.