Roman honored by SEC

FAYETTEVILLE— Arkansas sophomore Alex Roman has been named to the 2010 Southeastern Conference Community Service team, the league office announced this week.

Roman received the award for her outstanding work in the community.

“This is a terrific honor for Alex,” Arkansas coach Jeff Poppell said. “A true testament to her hard work and dedication to be the best person she can be in and out of the pool.”

Before the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Roman was already involved with fund raising to buy supplies for Haiti. She has also been a volunteer counselor at a high school FCA Girls Retreat (2009) and worked as a camp counselor at Kanakuk (Christian sports camp) during the summer of 2009. She has also been a recruiting weekend volunteer and done mission work in Mexico.

The St. Louis native was also involved with the record-breaking student participation in this year’s Lift Up America campaign. The University of Arkansas Athletic Department, Tyson Foods, Inc. and Lift Up America teamed together to distribute more than 38,000 pounds of food to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. According to Lift Up America representatives, the Razorbacks set a record for the best participation by a single university at a Lift Up America event with 134 student-athletes donating time to load food.

When she is not attending class or at practice, she has also worked at the Kuman Math & Reading Center where she tutored elementary school kids in math and reading comprehension and worked weekly as a volunteer for Campus Crusade for Christ.

The SEC sponsors a Community Service Teams for all 20 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to her community in superior service efforts.

The Razorbacks are set to compete at the SEC Championships, Wednesday through Saturday, in Athens, Ga.