The following is a spotlight profile on Jenna Cone, The George Washington University's nominee for the prestigous NCAA Woman of the Year award. The Atlantic 10 had 15 institutional nominees for the award (READ MORE). Each weekday until July 22, the Atlantic 10 will profile one of the institutional nominees.
|
|
SNAPSHOT
Sport: Softball
Position: Third Base
Major: Communications
Minor: History/Sociology
Hometown: Trabuco Canyon, Calif.
|
|
Jenna Cone
PROFILE
Jenna Cone's softball career was bookended with two major A-10 awards. She was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 2017 as a freshman, and A-10 Player of the Year in 2019 as a junior. In her final full season of competition in 2019, she also made A-10 All-Conference First Team, A-10 All-Championship Team, Softball America All-America Third Team, All-ECAC First Team, and NFCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team, while leading George Washington to their first-ever A-10 Championship title and postseason appearance. Prior to the cancellation of the 2020 spring season, she was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List. She volunteered with Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), interned with Construct1 One Corp, LRT Sports, and Akira Technologies, and participated in the GW Athletics Leadership Academy. Cone was a member of the Lambda Pi Eta Honors Society as a Communication major and a Dean's List Student all four years.
STORIES
THE GW HATCHET: Cone inks name in softball program history for RBI record
GWSPORTS.COM: Colonial of the Week
Q&A WITH JENNA
Who or What has been your biggest inspiration or motivation?
One of my biggest motivations to continue to push myself is the idea to compete for those who cannot. I am so grateful and blessed to be healthy and have the ability to play the sport that I love, while there are many people that do not have the same opportunities. Groups such as the Jessie Rees Foundation and KEEN Greater DC are sources of great inspiration for me. I am also motivated and inspired everyday by my teammates. I love to see the determination and commitment that my teammates exhibit every single day to make themselves and the team better, which inspires me to do the same.
What hard goals have you set and/or accomplished?
My primary goal while attending GW was to be A-10 Champions and compete in postseason competition. While we got a taste of that 2018-19 season, this goal developed into being outright champions. I am extremely proud of what my team has accomplished, and to see the growth of the program throughout the past four years. Another goal that I set and achieved for myself was becoming an Academic All-American. I am extremely honored to have received this recognition, especially because I have always made academics a major priority throughout my collegiate career.
If You Could Know the Absolute and Total Truth to One Question, What Question Would You Ask?
If I could know the absolute and total truth to one question, I would like to know, is there a cure for cancer?
What are three words your teammates would use to describe you, and why?
I think that the three words my teammates would use to describe me include: competitive, compassionate, and loyal. I strive everyday to continue to push myself and compete in any way possible, on or off the field. I believe that my teammates would describe me as compassionate, I do my best to be able to recognize the emotions and feelings of others and respond with empathy. Finally, my teammates would likely say that I am loyal. Loyalty has always been of high importance to me.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
The accomplishment that I am most proud of is being recognized as an Academic All-American. This is the honor that I am most proud of because it highlights both academic and athletic accomplishments. When deciding which university I would attend, I wanted to ensure that I would be able to focus on both academics and athletics. I am extremely grateful to my coaches, athletic administrators, and all professors that have aided me throughout my four years.
What is the most courageous thing you've ever done?
I believe that courage varies for each individual. For example, I was terrified of public speaking and would be extremely nervous to address a large crowd, and when I was a junior in high school, I faced this fear. Within 3 months, I lost two family members and it was a very difficult time for my family and me. One of them was my grandfather. At his funeral, I had the opportunity to speak, and did so to a crowd of around 200 people about how amazing my grandfather was and the significant impact he had on me. While I was very scared to do this, I am extremely glad that I overcame this fear and had the privilege of honoring my grandfather.
Pick one song that would describe you and one that would describe your team
One song that describes me is "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World. I used to listen to that song frequently when I was younger and as I got older, I realized the positive and encouraging message that it contains.
A song that would describe my team is The Final Countdown. Whenever I hear that song I smile because before every game in the A10 tournament, our team would scream this song at the top of our lungs.