Texas track star a finalist for Collegiate Woman of the Year award
By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas track star Courtney Okolo became a finalist for the Collegiate Woman of the Year and the Honda Cup after being named Thursday by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards as the recipient of the Honda Sport Award for track and field.
"It's definitely a huge honor,” Okolo said. “I'm honored and blessed that I've had a great season and they have noticed the accomplishments I had on the track this year.”
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 40 years to the top female student-athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics." The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2016 Honda Cup which will be presented June 27 on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network.
Okolo swept the 400 meters titles at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, giving her a total of four individual NCAA titles in her event. Okolo also ran anchor leg on the 4x400-meter relay to win the NCAA crown indoors and out in 2016.
She also broke her own collegiate record in the 400 at the LSU Alumni Gold when she crossed the finish line in 49.71 seconds to beat her previous best of 50.03. She now has run four of the top 10 times in collegiate history outdoors in the 400 meters. Texas has claimed three of the top 10 times outdoors with Okolo on the relay while four of the seven fastest times indoors include Okolo.
"This is well-deserved for Courtney and a tremendous honor to be recognized at the highest level by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards," Texas head coach Mario Sategna said. "From graduating from The University of Texas to all her accolades on and off the track, Courtney has represented our university and team with pride and great character. We could not be more proud of her and the positive impact she has had on Texas track and field."
Texas has had other female student-athletes be recognized by Honda and the CWSA in the past. Most recently, former basketball standout Imani Boyette received the Honda Inspiration Award in 2015 recognizing her life's inspirational journey.
Two Lifetime Longhorns have won the Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman of the Year. Former swimming star, Olympian and current Assistant Athletics Director Jill Sterkel won in 1981. Basketball standout and current Northern Colorado head coach Kamie Ethridge won the award in 1986.
