UCLA'S Monique Henderson voted Track & Field Athlete of the Year
Posted Monday, 20 June, 2005
Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist, Monique Henderson, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been voted the nation's top collegiate female track & field athlete. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 29th year.
Henderson's victory will earn her the Honda Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, as well as an automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. She was voted over three other nominees: sophomore Marshevet Hooker from the University of Texas, sophomore Tianna Madison from the University of Tennessee and junior Virginia Powell from the University of Southern California. The nominees in track & field were selected by the National Association of Collegiate Track & Field Coaches.
She won the 400m at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Henderson's personal-best winning time of 50.10 was the fifth-fastest all-time collegiate 400m mark, while also setting new NCAA meet, PAC-10 and UCLA records. At the 2005 NCAA West Regional meet in Eugene, Ore., she became the first woman in meet history to repeat as 200m/400m champion, and at the 2005 Pac-10 Championships at UCLA. She became just the second woman in conference meet history to repeat victories in both the 200m/400m. Henderson is also ranked fifth best in the world and has been named the West Region's Athlete of the Year. In her career, she is an eight-time All-American, seven-time Pac-10 Champion and six-time West Region Champion.
Contact:
Katie Subach
USATF Communications Intern
USA Track & Field
317-261-0500
i