Being a student athlete at Harding University comes with a lot of responsibility. The athlete must keep up with school while constantly practicing and competing at games. Junior Kristen Celsor, a guard for the Lady Bisons, has managed to not only be a great student but a great athlete as well which has not gone unnoticed in the Great American Conference.
Celsor was named “Athlete of the Week” in the GAC on Monday Feb. 25. This is the second time for Celsor to be awarded the GAC Athlete of the Week this season. To be eligible for the award, you have to have the best stats for the week in the whole conference, going up against 11 schools.
“It definitely is a great honor, knowing all the girls that are out there playing every single week and knowing how talented they are,” Celsor said. “I feel really blessed to have gotten it.”
Celsor grew up in the Searcy community watching her older brother and sister play basketball.
“I would go to their practices and be that little kid dribbling in the corner having fun with my dad,” Celsor said.
Growing up watching the Lady Bisons play sparked Celsor’s interest in coming to Harding.
“I always thought it would be neat to play here but it never really seemed like an option,” Celsor said. “But when Coach Kirby asked me to join the team, I was really shocked and excited. It was kind of like a dream come true.”
Since being at Harding, Celsor was awarded the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the year in 2011 and for the past three years she has been All Conference.
Celsor has also been awarded Academic All American, the first female basketball player to receive this award at Harding.
“My parents have always stressed my grades, so being a student athlete, the student comes first,” Celsor said. “The award was an unexpected result from trying to do my best in the classroom.”
“She has been a leader for three years now,” Lady Bisons head coach Tim Kirby said. “She is very intelligent and very personable. I can’t tell you in words exactly what she means to us because she does everything.”
Celsor doesn’t take credit for herself and said that being at Harding has been one of the greatest blessings in her life.
“Every single girl on our team is a great girl and they are all my best friends and you don’t always get that with teams in other schools,” Celsor said. “I can honestly say that I love every single girl on the team.”
On Saturday, March 2, Celsor played her last home game as a junior and said she had mixed emotions about the season coming to an end.
“You always love playing at home but it will be sad to see it end,” Celsor said.
“Our fans are just as much a part of our team as we are,” Celsor said. “We really appreciate every single person who goes to those games and even though we don’t get to talk to everybody, we see their faces there and we are just really thankful that this community is a part of our team and they support us.”
