Tim Duncan wasn’t the only Wake Forest athlete to win a championship this month. Lakewood High School alum Michelle Sikes, a former star for the Ranger track and cross country teams, won an NCAA national championship on June 8. An impressive young woman gifted both intellectually and athletically, Sikes had already been named a Rhodes Scholar this past November.

Sikes, a senior on the Wake Forest University track and field team, ended her senior season by winning the national championship in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, California. She became the first Wake Forest female to win a national title in indoor or outdoor track, and is the first Demon Deacon to claim a title in the sport since 1996.

Sikes’ running career blossomed at Lakewood High, where she earned eight varsity letters with both the track and cross country teams. She was a two-time state champion in the 3,200 meters, and was named All-American in 2002. Sikes also performed in the classroom, being named a National Merit Commended Scholar.

Sikes’ championship capped a brilliant career at Wake Forest, where she earned numerous regional and Atlantic Coast Conference honors in both track and cross country. She served as captain of the women's track and cross country teams. Her success in the classroom continued, as she was named one of only 32 Rhodes Scholars in the country. Sikes plans to go on to Oxford, where she will pursue a Master of Science degree in global health science. At Wake Forest, she majored in mathematical economics with a minor in health policy and administration.

Sikes held an internship last summer with The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. While there, she researched various mathematical models that might increase the number of organ donors. Her honors thesis will focus on using the data collected to propose the best ways to reform the nation’s policy on transplantable organs. Sikes, who is a strong candidate to be named 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year, is hoping to race professionally in Europe this summer.