June 09, 2016

Carl Appleton ’17 Wins National Student-Athlete Award

Lewis & Clark’s C.J. Appleton ’17 has been named one of only five recipients of the national Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. Lewis & Clark is the only Division III school—and the only school in the West—to be represented.

Lewis & Clark senior Carl “C.J.” Appleton has been named one of only five recipients of the national Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. He will be recognized at the N4A Convention Awards Luncheon on June 11 in Dallas, Texas.

Granted by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics, a nonprofit organization which provides financial and academic support to student-athletes who might not otherwise be recognized, the award celebrates student-athletes who have faced overwhelming odds to succeed academically, athletically, and personally.

Appleton had always dreamed of playing college football. A gifted football player at Portland’s Central Catholic High School, C.J.’s pursuit of athletic excellence was put on hold when he dropped out of college after a difficult freshman year. In fall 2014, at the age of 30, he transferred to Lewis & Clark. C.J. played tight end on the college’s football team and starting forward on the men’s basketball team. His success hasn’t been limited to the field: he juggles two jobs while earning a 3.54 GPA in his major, Sociology/Anthropology.

C.J. plans to graduate in 2017 and pursue a degree in counseling from Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling, so that he can help young adults overcome addiction and realize their own potential to succeed.

“I got my life together at 27, and I keep thinking where I would be today if I’d seen that light a little earlier,” Appleton said in a recent interview in Lewis & Clark’s Chronicle magazine. “If I could be in a position to help somebody else so they don’t have to lose those years in their 20s, that would be huge.”

Sociology & Anthropology

Information for Transfer Students

LC Pioneers Athletics Website

 

Emily Price ’18 contributed to this story.