Falls' Grunert earns Indianapolis collegiate hall of fame honors

Menomonee Falls - A couple of key traits defined Menomonee Falls Hall of Fame swimmer Megan Grunert more than anything else, in the eyes of longtime Indians coach Jim Weitzer.

"I worked with her from club level, when she was about 11 or 12 years old all the way through high school," said Weitzer, "and what always separated her was how very determined she was to be successful. That, and her great work ethic, which is a rare commodity nowadays."

Grunert, who was inducted into the Menomonee Falls Athletic Hall of Fame back in 2009, was just inducted into the University of Indianapolis Athletic Hall of Fame last weekend.

She came out of Falls as the greatest female swimmer not named Terri Jashinsky (six-time state champion), having won the WIAA state championship in the 100-yard breast stroke in 1997 after finishing second the year before. She won four conference titles in the breast stroke and two titles in the 200 individual medley, in which she earned third-place state medals in both 1998 and 1999.

But it was at the NCAA Division II Indianapolis that Grunert's career really took off.

She was one of six inductees last weekend and her credentials are impeccable. She graduated from Indianapolis in 2004 where she was a 16-time All-American, 10-time honorable mention All-American and 12-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion. She was a two-time national runner-up and had two third-place individual finishes at nationals.

Grunert was GLIAC freshman of the year in 2000 and GLIAC female swimming athlete of the year 2001-04, earning team MVP honors from 2001-04. Furthermore, her leadership skills were greatly respected as she was a captain her final three years on the team. She finished her career with five individual school records and as a member of five school-record-setting relays

Grunert was also named Indy's outstanding female athlete in 2001 and 2004.

More importantly, she was a three-time Academic All-American, earning first-team honors in 2003 and 2004. She earned an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, the Richard E. Schrier Endowed Scholarship for Postgraduate study and the Angus Nicoson "Something Extra" Award winner in 2004.

That same year, Grunert was named the Indiana winner and a national finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, and in 2010, she earned her doctorate in chemistry from Purdue. Today, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Mallinson Institute for Science Education at Western Michigan University.

None of Grunert's academic achievements are a surprise to Weitzer.

"She was just a very internally motivated individual," he said. "The (swimming) talent was always there, but she spent even more time on her academics. She was just very gifted and very much a leader."