Nichols Named Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete Of The Year
May 19, 2022 | Track and Field
SAN FRANCISCO – Colorado track and field senior Abby Nichols has been named the 2022 Pac-12 Women's Track Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Thursday afternoon.
Nichols captured both the 10,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run Pac-12 titles last weekend in Eugene, setting a Pac-12 meet record and CU school record in the 10,000 in the process at 32:27.25. She is the first-ever Colorado athlete to earn an individual Pac-12 Athlete of the Year award in track.
Nichols was one of two athletes on the track to score 20 points individually, but the only one to set a Pac-12 record in the process. She helped lead the CU women to a second-place finish with 102.5 team points, both the best mark for the Buffs in Pac-12 history.
In completing the double, Nichols became just the third woman in Pac-12 history to do so, joining two athletes from Oregon in 2010 and 1990. Nichols has the top time in the NCAA in the 10,000 and is second in the 5,000 with a mark that is good for ninth in NCAA history.
This is Nichols' second Pac-12 Woman of the Year honor in her career after she was the Pac-12 Champion in cross country and was named the 2021 Pac-12 Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She joins only Dani Jones as a two-time Pac-12 Women's Athlete of the Year honoree in CU history.
Oregon's head coach Robert Johnson was named the men and women's Pac-12 Coach of the Year following championships in both genders. The Pac-12 Men's Track Athlete of the Year went to Oregon sprinter Micah Williams who captured both the 100 and 200-meter dash titles. The Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Year and Pac-12 Men's Freshman of the Year titles both went to Cal's Mykolas Alekna who bettered his own NCAA record in the discus and posted the No.2 mark in the world in the event. Arizona State's Jorinde van Klinken took the Pac-12 Women's Field Athlete of the Year honors after winning both the discus and shot put, while the Pac-12 Women's Freshman of the Year went to Washington State's Micaela De Mello.
Nichols will race only the 5,000 at the upcoming NCAA West Preliminaries, opting out of the 10,000 double to focus on the 5k. She will race for a top-five spot in her heat or the next two fastest times Saturday, May 28, at 7:10 p.m. MT.
Nichols captured both the 10,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run Pac-12 titles last weekend in Eugene, setting a Pac-12 meet record and CU school record in the 10,000 in the process at 32:27.25. She is the first-ever Colorado athlete to earn an individual Pac-12 Athlete of the Year award in track.
Nichols was one of two athletes on the track to score 20 points individually, but the only one to set a Pac-12 record in the process. She helped lead the CU women to a second-place finish with 102.5 team points, both the best mark for the Buffs in Pac-12 history.
In completing the double, Nichols became just the third woman in Pac-12 history to do so, joining two athletes from Oregon in 2010 and 1990. Nichols has the top time in the NCAA in the 10,000 and is second in the 5,000 with a mark that is good for ninth in NCAA history.
This is Nichols' second Pac-12 Woman of the Year honor in her career after she was the Pac-12 Champion in cross country and was named the 2021 Pac-12 Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She joins only Dani Jones as a two-time Pac-12 Women's Athlete of the Year honoree in CU history.
Oregon's head coach Robert Johnson was named the men and women's Pac-12 Coach of the Year following championships in both genders. The Pac-12 Men's Track Athlete of the Year went to Oregon sprinter Micah Williams who captured both the 100 and 200-meter dash titles. The Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Year and Pac-12 Men's Freshman of the Year titles both went to Cal's Mykolas Alekna who bettered his own NCAA record in the discus and posted the No.2 mark in the world in the event. Arizona State's Jorinde van Klinken took the Pac-12 Women's Field Athlete of the Year honors after winning both the discus and shot put, while the Pac-12 Women's Freshman of the Year went to Washington State's Micaela De Mello.
Nichols will race only the 5,000 at the upcoming NCAA West Preliminaries, opting out of the 10,000 double to focus on the 5k. She will race for a top-five spot in her heat or the next two fastest times Saturday, May 28, at 7:10 p.m. MT.
Players Mentioned
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