June 15, 2021
Emma Stacy ‘15 embodies the student athlete at Mounds Park Academy. As a competitive swimmer, she knew that without the right balance of athletics, arts, and academics, plus a healthy dose of joy, she could be susceptible to an early burn out. It was no surprise that Stacy, who swam for Metro United, MPA’s co-op swim team, always made sure to make swimming fun. “My favorite memory was carpooling to the pool with other MPA swimmers and jamming to songs in the car to get pumped up,” she said.
She was also, of course, a tremendously successful athlete. The 2012 Metro United athlete of the year, she qualified for the 2012 MSHSL state swim meet in the 200m individual medley. Because Metro United is a larger co-op, they competed at the AA level, making Stacy’s accomplishment even more impressive. Stacy also competed on the speech team for MPA, medaling at the state speech tournament three times. She was also inducted into MPA’s chapter of the National Honor Society.
Stacy chose to continue her swimming career at Scripps College in Claremont, California, earning a full academic scholarship. In just her first year, she racked up an impressive array of awards. She was part of the conference champion 400m freestyle relay, earning all-conference in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) for her efforts. She was also part of the Athena’s conference champion 800m freestyle relay, the third fastest time in school history.
Stacy finished her freshman campaign by winning the Athena’s rookie of the year award, and, always the student, she made the SCIAC all-academic team, the College Swimming Coaches Association scholar all-America (CSCAA) team and athletic director’s honor roll.
As a sophomore, she anchored the Athena’s conference champion 400m freestyle relay, the fourth best time in school history, and then placed fourth in the individual 100m freestyle at the SCIAC championships.
In her junior year, Stacy qualified for the NCAA Division III swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis, earning honorable Mention all-American honors as a member of the Athena’s school record 200m free relay. She also qualified for nationals as part of the 400m and 800m free relay teams. Stacy earned second team all-SCIAC conference honors, and was named to the 2017-2018 SCIAC all-academic team and the CSCAA scholar all-America team.
As a senior, Stacy was honorable mention all-American in the 400m free relay, a member of the Athena’s SCIAC champion 800m free relay, and all-SCIAC honoree as part of the 400m free relay. She was named to the CSCAA scholar all-America first team and the SCIAC all-academic team. Stacy finished her career as the school record holder in the 200m free relay, number seven in CMS history in the 200m IM, number nine in the 200m free, and number ten in the 100m free. She is on the Athena’s top ten performance list in 13 individual and relay events.
Stacy graduated in 2019 with a degree in biochemistry and went on to earn a master’s degree in global environmental politics and society from the University of Edinburgh. She is now an aquatic toxicity testing analyst with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
