Danielle McCormick received the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s highest honor for the 2018 indoor track and field season named the Female Athlete of the Year for the 2018 indoor track season. The GNAC Indoor Track & Field Special Awards were announced Friday, March 23rd in Portland, Oregon.
McCormick, a Soldotna High School graduate and former track state champion for SoHi, was recognized for her accomplishments with the University of Alaska, Anchorage track program during the indoor season. McCormick raced to the NCAA Division II national championship in the 800M, recording UAA’s first female national championship in indoor track and field.
At the Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Dani McCormick recorded a first-place finish in the Women’s 800M with a time of 2:15.41. UAA is scheduled to compete at both the San Francisco State Invitational and Stanford Invitational, Mar. 30-31.
GNAC season-end special awards Press Release courtesy of www.goseawolves.com
3/23/2018
PORTLAND, Ore. – Three Alaska Anchorage track and field athletes were voted by league coaches for 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s indoor track and field season-end special awards, revealed Friday.
Danielle McCormick was the unanimous Female Athlete of the Year, Yemi Knight earned Female Newcomer of the Year, and Felix Kemboi was awarded Male Co-Freshman of the Year.
McCormick, a junior from Soldotna, became the first female athlete in program history to win a national title in indoor or outdoor track and field. She clocked 2 minutes, 7.79 seconds at indoor nationals. She was the leadoff leg on the women’s distance medley relay at the same meet, which finished ninth. The relay also clocked a time of 11:32.96 earlier in the season, finishing with the second quickest time in program history and second best mark in the nation.
Additionally, the former SoHi Star won her first GNAC indoor championship in the 800 in 2:09.79. McCormick also improved upon her own indoor record with a time of 2:07.13 at the UW Open in Feb. – which was the fourth swiftest time in Div. II this season. She was named GNAC Athlete of the Week, Feb. 5-11 for her record-breaking effort.
Knight, a Jackson State junior transfer from St. Michael, Barbados, finished 16th in the preliminaries of the 800 and ran the third leg of the DMR at the NCAA Div. II Indoor Championships. She finished fourth at the GNAC Championships in the 800-meter final (2:11.49) and ran the 11th-fastest Div. II time of the season in the preliminaries in 2:09.85.
Kemboi earned recognition following stellar performances at the GNAC Championships. The Eldoret, Kenya product won the 5,000 meters in 15:12.63 and finished second in the 3,000 with a time of 8:33.92. He also ran a season-best 3K time of 8:25.23 on Feb. 24 at the SPU Final Qualifier and was named Freshman of the Year during the cross country campaign.
All three athletes made the GNAC All-Conference team, while McCormick and Knight earned All-West Region.
The Seawolves will compete in their second outdoor meet of the season, Mar. 24 at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore.
GNAC 2018 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SPECIAL AWARDS WINNERS
Male Athlete of the Year: David Ribich, WOU
Female Athlete of the Year: Danielle McCormick, UAA
Male Freshman of the Year: Felix Kemboi, UAA & Braydon Meier, CWU
Female Freshman of the Year: Renick Meyer, SPU
Male Newcomer of the Year: Tupre Wickliff, WWU
Female Newcomer of the Year: Yemi Knight, UAA
Men’s Coach of the Year: Mike Johnson, WOU
Women’s Coach of the Year: Kevin Adkisson, CWU
