Track & Field’s Skylar Ciccolini Awarded NCAA Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship
4/8/2026 12:00:00 PM | Track & Field
The graduate student becomes the first student-athlete in Mizzou history to receive the honor.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou track and field's Skylar Ciccolini has been named a 2026 NCAA Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship recipient, the association announced Wednesday.
The Walter Byers Scholarship, the NCAA's highest academic honor, is a $24,000 award presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete who demonstrate academic and athletic excellence and potential as future leaders.
"I am incredibly honored to receive the Walter Byers award," Ciccolini said. "This award embodies everything I was striving for at Mizzou – excellence in the classroom, on the track, and in the community. This award will allow me to continue my doctoral research into tick-borne diseases to benefit the public and the health care system while continuing to pour into the Columbia community."
The javelin student-athlete becomes the first Mizzou athletics history to receive the honor, recognized for her extensive research in tick-borne diseases as she pursues her doctorate in natural resources.
"Skylar exemplifies the very best of what it means to be a Mizzou student-athlete," Director of Athletics Laird Veatch said. "Her commitment to excellence in competition, groundbreaking academic research and service to others makes her a deserving recipient of one of the NCAA's most prestigious honors. We are incredibly proud of her accomplishments and look forward to the continued impact she will make."
"Skylar exemplifies the enduring values of the student-athlete and the prestigious Walter Boyd Award," head coach Brett Halter said. "Her tireless dedication to academic excellence is matched only by her relentless pursuit of mastering the skill necessary to compete at a world class level in the javelin. Our university, department, and team are better today, not solely by her achievements in the classroom or on the field, but by the exceptional character Skylar demonstrates as a person."
Ciccolini has earned Division I United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America honors in each competitive season, collecting first-team recognition in 2023 and 2024 and second-team honors in 2021. She posted her highest national finish at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing fifth. In 2021, she qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and went on to become a finalist in 2024.
Ciccolini has also produced a strong 2026 season, winning the Yellow Jacket Invitational with a personal-best throw of 57.45 meters (188 feet, 6 inches). The mark improved her previous No. 3 all-time performance at Missouri and currently ranks third nationally. The performance earned her SEC Co-Field Athlete of the Week honors on March 24, her second career SEC weekly award after being named SEC Women's Freshman of the Week on April 20, 2021.
She has also helped lead Missouri's women's javelin group to the nation's No. 1 ranking in each of the first two weeks of the 2026 outdoor season.
Ciccolini has also compiled an extensive academic résumé. She earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in 2023 and 2024 and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll from 2021-24.
After graduating summa cum laude with both her bachelor's and master's degrees, Ciccolini continued her education in a doctoral program focused on tick-borne disease systems, where she applies statistical and research methods aimed at improving health care decision-making. She also teaches an undergraduate laboratory course.
Despite the demands of being both a student-athlete and doctoral student, Ciccolini remains active in community service through camp counseling, work at a local food bank and volunteer efforts at multiple events. She organized a shoe drive within the Mizzou Athletics Department for Turning Point, a homeless day shelter in Columbia, collecting more than 300 pairs of shoes in three years.
Ciccolini plans to become a professor at a Tier I research university while publishing four research articles. Athletically, she aims to represent Team USA at the 2028 Olympic Games.
Missouri continues its outdoor season at the Big Red Classic from April 16-18 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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