It’s easy to spot Marcia Newby, a member of the University of Georgia women’s gymnastics team, a powerhouse that has won five national championships in the last six seasons. She has the biggest and heaviest book bag.
“I carry all my books around just in case I have 15 or 20 extra minutes. I can start studying in that time frame,” says the 22-year-old senior biological science major.
In addition to competing in gymnastics and sustaining a 3.9 cumulative grade-point average in premed studies, Newby served as co-president of the student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC), an organization that addresses issues affecting student-athletes. Newby is among a select group of student-athletes involved in helping UGA earn recertification from the NCAA. She was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Community Service Team, among other honors for her community service, which includes coordinating food drives and volunteering at the Special Olympics.
For her accomplishments, Newby is named Diverse 2010 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year.
“Marcia is far beyond her athletic achievements and accolades, which are numerous,” says Georgia gymnastics Head Coach Jay Clark. “She’s been exactly what you would want to define a student-athlete in the highest sense of that phrase.”
As a teenager, the Virginia Beach, Va., native’s talent earned her a spot on the U.S. national gymnastics team for three years and assignments to several international competitions. She won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2003 Pan-American Games and attended the U.S. Olympic trials in 2004. She took the experience she gained during those years and channeled it into college sports.
The daughter of a family practice physician and a nurse practitioner, Newby grew up knowing she wanted to pursue a career in medicine. During her freshman year at Georgia, several people indicated to her that it would be difficult to balance premed courses with an athletic career in arguably the country’s most high-profile collegiate women’s gymnastics program.
