SUWANEE, Ga. -  Austin College women's swimmer Sammi Thiele was recently honored by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference as their female Character & Community Student-Athlete of the Week. The SCAC Character & Community award honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.

Thiele has been a difference-maker on campus since early on in her time in Sherman, both thanks to her athletic prowess but also with her contributions in both leadership and service roles. The senior from Keller, who is a conference champion swimmer as well as a starter on the 'Roo women's water polo team that's reached back-to-back national Final Fours, has taken up the mantle of leadership within the Austin College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, alongside her fellow swimmer Cody Dean, and this year is also representing the SAAC at the conference level as the College's female representative.

Recently, Thiele helped organize a canned food drive that brought in nearly 200 items to be donated to Grand Central Station, a local food bank in Sherman, as part of Division III's Week of Service, and she's already coming up with big plans for the spring semester for both community outreach and further charitable donations, including to Scottish Rite, a pediatric orthopedic hospital in Dallas.

In addition to her work with the SAAC, Thiele has also worked as a peer mentor on campus, and this year is a peer mentor ambassador. She's also worked as a peer writing tutor, and is a teaching assistant, as well. Thiele has been recognized for both her outstanding athletics as well as her academics, having won an individual SCAC swimming title last year and earning a berth in the NCAA National Championship Meet last season, which made her the first 'Roo swimmer to ever compete at that event. Sammi was also named the SCAC Elite 19 Award winner following the 2022-23 season, and is both a member of the SCAC Academic Honor Roll as well as being an Academic All-District recipient.

A captain on the Austin College swim team, Thiele has also put in hundreds of hours with the Green Cord community service program, in addition to serving as a group leader for the Christmas week box lunch drive called Food For the Soul.