Photo by: Shane Bevel, NCAA Photos/Getty Images
Mahala Norris Named Honda Award Finalist
3/24/2021 10:45:00 AM | Cross Country
Norris is the first Falcon named a finalist for the Honda Sport Award.
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force senior Mahala Norris was named one of four finalists for the Class of 2021 Honda Sport Award for Cross Country, Chris Volez, the executive director of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) recently announced.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 45 years, recognizing the top female athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2021 Honda Cup.
The nominees were chosen from the top four finishers at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which were completed in March 2021, due to COVID19-related delays. The Honda Sport award winner for cross country will be announced after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools.
Norris finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla., on March 15 – earning her second All-America award in cross country and her third overall. With her fourth-place performance, the senior from Roseburg, Ore., recorded the program's highest finish ever by a member of the women's team at the NCAA Division I Championships – and the Falcons' highest individual finish since 1995. Her finish on the cross country course came just three days after she earned the same placement in the 5000-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The senior also accounted for first-place finishes in cross country at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge and Mountain West Championships, with the placement in the latter race providing the first individual title for a member of the Air Force women's cross country team. Norris, who also earned the program's first MW Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year award, was recently named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Female Runner of the Year.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 45 years, recognizing the top female athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2021 Honda Cup.
The nominees were chosen from the top four finishers at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which were completed in March 2021, due to COVID19-related delays. The Honda Sport award winner for cross country will be announced after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools.
Norris finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla., on March 15 – earning her second All-America award in cross country and her third overall. With her fourth-place performance, the senior from Roseburg, Ore., recorded the program's highest finish ever by a member of the women's team at the NCAA Division I Championships – and the Falcons' highest individual finish since 1995. Her finish on the cross country course came just three days after she earned the same placement in the 5000-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The senior also accounted for first-place finishes in cross country at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge and Mountain West Championships, with the placement in the latter race providing the first individual title for a member of the Air Force women's cross country team. Norris, who also earned the program's first MW Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year award, was recently named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Female Runner of the Year.
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