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ABILENE - With no NCAA regional or national competitions to anticipate, junior Alexandria Hackett instead fashioned a campaign in which she conquered the conference competition throughout an entire academic year. And on Thursday Hackett's rivals lauded her contributions and level of sacrifice by voting her Southland Conference Athlete of the Year.
Even with two dominant decades of Abilene Christian women's track and field on the books - a span in which the Wildcats won 23 Lone Star Conference Championships from the early 1980's into the 2000's - it's hard to believe Hackett is only the program's second conference athlete of the year and first in eight years (Winrose Karunde, 2008).
It's even harder to think of a former Wildcat who won at a more consistent rate than Hackett, who posted a .565 winning percentage in collecting 13 victories between a September 18 cross country meet and last Sunday's 5,000-meter run at the Southland Conference Championship. Hackett won half of her six cross country events, plus three of eight indoor competitions, and seven of nine outdoor races - many of which took place against Power 5 Conference student-athletes.
Hackett's outdoor season started with a 1,500-meter win at TCU and from there she secured her first of three 5K victories while at Texas Tech. She would later win this race at the Texas Relays and again in Corpus Christi, where she broke a 16-year old Southland Conference Championships meet record with her time of 16:47.89.
Two weeks after her showing in Austin, Hackett entered the Mt. SAC Relays and crushed the school's 12-year-old varsity record in the 5K with an 18th-place mark of 16:03.83. Then - in an even greater display of versatility - she won the mile at Oklahoma and 1500m at ACU in consecutive weeks before making her collegiate 10K debut at the Southland Championships.
Not only did Hackett win the 25-lap marathon by 90 seconds over her closest competitor, she eclipsed a 21-year old meet record by completing the course in 34:47.79. Only three meet records fell last weekend at the Dugan Family Track Stadium. The first was in the women's hammer throw, and the other two came courtesy of Hackett.
The league today also made official its list of all-conference teams. Hackett was a first-team selection for her wins in the 5K and 10K, as was senior Rosen Daniel in the men's 400m dash, and senior Kimone Green in the 400m hurdles.
Daniel's 4x400-meter relay, which featured Lee-Andrew Bloomfield, Devan Brown and Deandre McBride also received a first-team citation. The St. Lucia native additionally earned second team honors for his effort in 200m dash.
Discus throwers Kayla Melgar and Kai Schmidt, senior sprinter Jessica James (400m) and junior distance runner Diana García Muñoz (1,500m) garnered second-team honors, while third-team awards went to McBride (200m), Jelani Rainey (hammer), Marina Guerrero (steeplechase) and Michaela Hackett (5K).
ACU has claimed two Athletes of the Year during its third transitional year from NCAA DII to DI Athletics. The first was junior women's basketball guard Alexis Mason, who received her trophy in March.
Southland Conference Men's Individual Track and Field Awards
Field: Emmanuel Williams, NSU
Track: Jeffrey Moore, SHSU
Freshman: Michael Nicholls, UNO
Newcomer: George Flaviano, NSU
Athlete of the Year: Jeffrey Moore, SHSU
Coach: Phil Olson, SFA
Southland Conference Women's Individual Track and Field Awards
Field: Sarea Alexander, UIW
Track: Jermeka McBride, NSU
Freshman: Dominique Allen, UIW
Newcomer: Hannah McWilliams, Texas A&M-CC
Athlete of the Year: Alexandria Hackett, ACU
Coach of the Year: David Self, SHSU
More...
Even with two dominant decades of Abilene Christian women's track and field on the books - a span in which the Wildcats won 23 Lone Star Conference Championships from the early 1980's into the 2000's - it's hard to believe Hackett is only the program's second conference athlete of the year and first in eight years (Winrose Karunde, 2008).
It's even harder to think of a former Wildcat who won at a more consistent rate than Hackett, who posted a .565 winning percentage in collecting 13 victories between a September 18 cross country meet and last Sunday's 5,000-meter run at the Southland Conference Championship. Hackett won half of her six cross country events, plus three of eight indoor competitions, and seven of nine outdoor races - many of which took place against Power 5 Conference student-athletes.
Hackett's outdoor season started with a 1,500-meter win at TCU and from there she secured her first of three 5K victories while at Texas Tech. She would later win this race at the Texas Relays and again in Corpus Christi, where she broke a 16-year old Southland Conference Championships meet record with her time of 16:47.89.
Two weeks after her showing in Austin, Hackett entered the Mt. SAC Relays and crushed the school's 12-year-old varsity record in the 5K with an 18th-place mark of 16:03.83. Then - in an even greater display of versatility - she won the mile at Oklahoma and 1500m at ACU in consecutive weeks before making her collegiate 10K debut at the Southland Championships.
Not only did Hackett win the 25-lap marathon by 90 seconds over her closest competitor, she eclipsed a 21-year old meet record by completing the course in 34:47.79. Only three meet records fell last weekend at the Dugan Family Track Stadium. The first was in the women's hammer throw, and the other two came courtesy of Hackett.
The league today also made official its list of all-conference teams. Hackett was a first-team selection for her wins in the 5K and 10K, as was senior Rosen Daniel in the men's 400m dash, and senior Kimone Green in the 400m hurdles.
Daniel's 4x400-meter relay, which featured Lee-Andrew Bloomfield, Devan Brown and Deandre McBride also received a first-team citation. The St. Lucia native additionally earned second team honors for his effort in 200m dash.
Discus throwers Kayla Melgar and Kai Schmidt, senior sprinter Jessica James (400m) and junior distance runner Diana García Muñoz (1,500m) garnered second-team honors, while third-team awards went to McBride (200m), Jelani Rainey (hammer), Marina Guerrero (steeplechase) and Michaela Hackett (5K).
ACU has claimed two Athletes of the Year during its third transitional year from NCAA DII to DI Athletics. The first was junior women's basketball guard Alexis Mason, who received her trophy in March.
Southland Conference Men's Individual Track and Field Awards
Field: Emmanuel Williams, NSU
Track: Jeffrey Moore, SHSU
Freshman: Michael Nicholls, UNO
Newcomer: George Flaviano, NSU
Athlete of the Year: Jeffrey Moore, SHSU
Coach: Phil Olson, SFA
Southland Conference Women's Individual Track and Field Awards
Field: Sarea Alexander, UIW
Track: Jermeka McBride, NSU
Freshman: Dominique Allen, UIW
Newcomer: Hannah McWilliams, Texas A&M-CC
Athlete of the Year: Alexandria Hackett, ACU
Coach of the Year: David Self, SHSU
More...