Skylar Ciccolini was inside her office — a cramped lab room she shares with three other people — when she received a phone call that sent her pacing around the tiny space with joy.
The call confirmed what the Missouri javelin thrower initially thought was a long shot: She was selected as one of the Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship winners. As one of the NCAA's highest academic honors, the scholarship awards student-athletes who display excellence in academics and athletics $24,000 that can be renewed for a second year. Ciccolini, who is competing in her fourth NCAA championships this week in Eugene, Oregon, is the first Mizzou student-athlete to receive the award.
"It just is a huge weight off my shoulders," said Ciccolini, who is pursuing a doctorate in natural resource science and management. "Having this not only gave me the peace of 'All right, I'm going to be OK the next four years,' but also it gives me a little bit more wiggle room with my timeline. … It just feels like it's setting me up better for grad school but also the future."
Ciccolini describes her dissertation as "pretty ambitious." She aims to develop a risk map of the United States for Lyme disease. "My hope is that the tool can be used by public conservation agencies for public messaging," she said. "It will help inform times when you're really at risk for Lyme disease and the places where you're more at risk. I also want it to be useful for the healthcare system for diagnosing different tick-borne diseases. … I'm hoping if I can parse out more fine-scale disease dynamics, it'll be helpful when targeting both prevention and treatment."
However, her path to that work wasn't always clear.
"I knew early on I wanted to go into science and be outside, but I didn't really find my passion for disease ecology until my master's," Ciccolini said. "Seeing that the work I was doing could actually help people in the real world, that's what really captured my attention."
She is paired with Samniqueka Joi-Weaver Halsey, who is her academic advisor and an assistant professor at Missouri in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Using Halsey's long-term data, Ciccolini will be able to contribute significant findings to the field of tick-borne diseases.
Her independent research will help her achieve her long-term goals of publishing four articles and being a professor at a Tier 1 research institution.
"Being a professor started to appeal to me more and more as I've been in my current teaching role," she said. "I've been teaching this course for the past three years and just love helping students — giving them the opportunity to find what they're passionate about, seeing them learn, helping them through the learning process. It is something I've really enjoyed doing. Also, seeing them struggle and then get it when they're like, 'Oh, I understand now.' That is something that is so cool, and I get to be a part of it and walk beside them in that to help them get where they want to go."
Ciccolini has become a consistent presence in the greater Columbia community. She volunteers with several organizations, including Turning Point Day Center, which provides safe daytime services for individuals experiencing homelessness. During her three years with Turning Point, Ciccolini organized a shoe drive that collected more than 300 pairs of shoes for those in need.
"We have a lot more time in the day than we think we do," she said. "It's just priorities, and for me, my faith and pouring into the community has always been a huge priority for me and something I've always been passionate about. It's also feeding back to me, because it makes me a better athlete, a better person and a better javelin thrower, too. If I'm constantly prioritizing how I can serve others or how I can make Columbia a little bit better in whatever pocket I'm in, it's easier to not get so wrapped up in injuries. … I've just always found that relying on my faith and an extension of that — serving in the community — has just been so important."
Brett Halter, Missouri's track and field head coach, admires Ciccolini's consistency and presence in every area of her life. "She's the same person every day," he said. "It would be easy to crawl into a shell, but she stayed engaged — in school, in the community and as a leader for her teammates. It's remarkable."
Academically, Ciccolini obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees from Missouri. Throughout her career, she has earned academic recognition from the Southeastern Conference and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association numerous times.
The graduate student is competing in her final NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday. She is already a two-time USTFCCCA first-team All-American and consistent NCAA championship scorer, with a career-high fifth-place finish at the 2023 championships. Her collegiate success started early. Her freshman season, she broke the school record with a 56.08-meter throw, which is still a top school mark.
She credits much of her technical foundation to her parents, both former javelin student-athletes at Cornell and her coaches when she was younger. The family javelin talent runs deep. Ciccolini competes alongside her younger sister, Taylor, who is a Missouri javelin thrower, as well.
"I started out thinking I was going to be a high jumper," she said. "But it became pretty obvious that my talent was in javelin, and I just fell in love with it. It's such a technical event; there's always something to improve."
Ciccolini advanced to the finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2024 and hopes to represent Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"Balance is important," coach Halter said. "You have to protect your core — faith, family, school, track — and everything else fits around that. Skylar understands that, and that's why she's able to thrive in so many areas."
Ciccolini plans to graduate from her program in 2029. As she looks ahead, her goals remain ambitious and grounded in gratitude.
"I feel confident going into the next stage because I've been preparing for it," she said. "And when things get hard, I know I have a great support system around me that's going to help me handle it. … They're the reason I can do all of the things I'm trying to do. The dream is to compete in LA in 2028. Everything I'm doing now — in school, in sport and in the community — is helping me get there."
Watch the Division I women's javelin competition at 6:15 p.m. Thursday on ESPN+.
