Missy Elumba (center) with Athletics Director Peter Roby (right) and assistant coach Linda Lundrigan.

Elumba, Orio named top scholar-athletes
April 14, 2009
Boston, Mass.

Northeastern University's most prestigious annual athletics awards have gone to the gridiron and ice: senior quarterback Anthony Orio was given the Herbert Gallagher Award as Northeastern's top male senior scholar-athlete and senior forward Missy Elumba of the women's hockey team was given the Jeanne Rowlands Award as NU's top female senior scholar-athlete.

Orio finished his Northeastern career as a four-year starter, ranking third all-time at NU in passing yards (5,540), second in passing attempts and completions (493-for-871), fifth in touchdown passes (30) and first in completion percentage (56.6). He graduated from Northeastern summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry in 2008 before pursuing a master's degree in Applied Nutrition with a specialization in Nutrition and Fitness at Northeastern. Orio will next attend Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey and pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon.

In 2008, Orio started all 12 games at quarterback for the Huskies, throwing for 2,058 yards. He was just the fifth Northeastern quarterback to go over the 2,000-yard mark. He threw for 11 touchdowns and rushed for one. His 61.0 completion percentage in 2006 tied the Northeastern single-season record.

Elumba recently earned one of college hockey's most prestigious awards – the Hockey Humanitarian Award honoring college hockey's finest citizen. The award recognizes accomplishments of personal character, scholarship, and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger community. Elumba has done extensive community service work in the Boston area and around the globe. On the ice and in the classroom, Elumba had 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 122 career games while maintaining a 3.5 grade-point-average in Health Science. She also intends to attend medical school.

Elumba's community service work includes helping rebuild homes in Gulfport, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina and medical work in Oaxaca, Mexico and Calcutta, India. On campus, she was president of Northeastern's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She helped found the "Husky Wish Gift" program, a student-run foundation that helps community organizations dedicated to increasing opportunities for youth to play sports. She spearheaded the creation of Northeastern Students4Giving, an on-campus group focused on teaching Northeastern students how to be philanthropic. Locally, she volunteered in several programs based at the Boston Medical Center, Ecclesia Ministries Pastoral Care and the South End Settlements.

Both Gallagher and Rowlands are members of Northeastern's Hall of Fame. Gallagher was a three-sport athlete, hockey coach and was Northeastern's Athletics Director. Rowlands was a women's athletics pioneer, NU's women's basketball coach and first and only women's Athletics Director. She retired in 1991.