T&F: Smith wins SLC Student-Athlete of the Year

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FRISCO, Texas HBU senior Kaitlin Smith was selected as the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year and was joined by 11 teammates in the SLC All-Academic Teams, as voted by the head coaches and sports information directors and announced Tuesday by the league office.

In addition to Smith, seniors Ashlyn Dobson and Jessica Rabiusjuniors Noa Grochowski† Tasheba Pleasant and Zara Richardson and sophomore Kemaya Linton made the team on the women’s side.

Five men earned the honor, including four seniors in Scott Boon† Ben Drew† Garrett Gibson and Travis Jacobsand junior Zyyare Brown†

Smith, who was also the conference’s Indoor Student-Athlete of the Year, today earned her second consecutive CoSIDA Academic All-America award, becoming the fourth Husky to claim the nation’s highest academic honor twice. The Wailuku, Hawai’i, native finished 11^e in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn second-team All-America honors for the second year in a row. Smith also won her second consecutive gold medal in the heptathlon, won the 100-meter hurdles, finished second in the long jump and third in the 400-meter hurdles to take the SLC Championship MVP and Female Athlete of the Year. She earns her fourth academic selection across all conferences, with a 4.0 GPA majoring in Kinesiology Sports Management.

Dobson had a 3.0 GPA majoring in reading. The native of Mont Belvieu, Texas, was a second all-conference-qualified team, claiming the conference championship silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best of 1:00.73.

Rabius earned her second academic honors across all conferences with a 3.73 GPA majoring in Kinesiology Sports Management. The East Bernard, Texas native captured the gold medal in the 800m with a time of 2:11.59 and was an NCAA qualifier in the 1,500m.

Grochowski had a GPA of 3.60 as a major international company. The native of Oranienburg, Germany, finished ninth in the heptathlon at the conference championships, scoring 4,279 points.

Pleasant had a 3.27 GPA majoring in biology. The native of Irving, Texas, earned all third-team conference honors and took the bronze medal in the conference championship triple jump with a score of 12.45 m/40-10.25.

Richardson had a 4.0 GPA majoring in elementary education and also earned the HBU’s Varsity Athlete Academic Award. The native of Corpus Christi, Texas, earned all of the second team’s conference honors, claiming the silver medal in the 800 meters at the conference championships with a PR time of 2:13.72.

Boon earned his third consecutive academic honors across all conferences with a 3.90 GPA as an international business major. The Dutchman from Dronten took the gold medal in the decathlon at the conference championships with 7,421 points and took the bronze medal in the pole vault with a figure of 4.90m/16-0.75.

Drew earned his second all-conference academic honor with a 3.90 GPA as a finance major. The native of Toowoomba, Australia, won the gold medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the conference championships with a time of 9:04.20 and qualified for the NCAA West Prelims.

Gibson earned his second academic honor across all conferences with a 3.37 GPA majoring in business administration. The Mont Belvieu, Texas native claimed the silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.76 and the bronze in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.80 at the conference championships. He also qualified for the NCAA West Prelims.

Jacobs had a 4.0 GPA majoring in kinesiology sports management. The Houston native finished sixth in the 800 meters at the conference championships with a time of 1:53.77.

Brown had a 3.71 GPA majoring in cinema. The San Antonio, Texas native placed eighth in the conference championship triple jump with a score of 13.21m/43-4.25.

For the full Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Teams, visit: southland.org†