Mahala Norris Named MW Athlete of the Year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The historic senior campaign of cross country and track standout Mahala Norris continued this afternoon (July 20), as she was named the Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year for the 2020-21 season. Norris, a 2021 Academy graduate and NCAA champion in the steeplechase, is just the second Academy athlete in any sport to receive the league's premier athletic award.

A native of Roseburg, Ore., Norris had a record-breaking senior season that covered both cross country and track. In a four-month span, Norris accounted for the NCAA title in the 3000-meter steeplechase, All-America honors in indoor track (fourth in the 5000-meter run), cross country (fourth) and outdoor track (first in the steeplechase), Mountain West titles in cross country, the steeplechase and 5000-meter run – with the latter two coming from MW Championship Meet Record performances, and an appearance in the steeplechase finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Norris claimed the program's fourth NCAA Division I championship title on June 12, when she used a furious kick in the final few meters to win the 3000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Racing to a career-best time of 9:31.79 in the win, she accounted for the sixth-fastest time in collegiate history, the second-fastest time in Mountain West history and a mark that improved her own Academy Record for the fourth time in five meets.

The unparalleled success of 2021 began in early March – at the start of the delayed cross country season, when she became the first Academy female to win a Mountain West title in cross country. Posting the fourth-fastest championship 6K in Mountain West history (19:57.7), Norris crossed the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of the field.

That victory kicked off a 10-day span that saw Norris collect All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and NCAA Cross Country Championships – with those two races taking place in different states, just three days apart. Norris registered the third-fastest indoor 5000-meter time in Academy history (15:51.73) to finish fourth and garner first-team All-America status on the track in Fayetteville, Ark., before earning the same placement following a 6K time of 20:11.8 on the cross country course in Stillwater, Okla. – the best finish of any runner that attempted the indoor/cross country double.

Norris, who earned Athlete of the Year honors from both the Mountain West and USTFCCCA Mountain Region for her cross country success, was also named a Honda Award (Cross Country) finalist.

Her success continued into the outdoor season, where she tallied Championship Meet Record times to win both the 3000-meter steeplechase (then-Academy Record 9:44.10) and 5000-meter run (15:39.13 – the second-fastest time in Academy history) at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships. Norris, who was named the MW Outstanding Female Performer for her two conference titles, was ranked among the nation's Top 10 in the steeplechase and Top 20 in the 5000-meter run following the conference meet, and eventually added the Mountain West Outdoor Female Athlete of the Year to her collection of awards.

The Air Force Academy's Most Valuable Female Athlete in 2021, Norris rewrote the Academy Record in the steeplechase four times during her first five competitions – deleting more than 40 seconds from the previous standard over that stretch – while also climbing up the conference and NCAA lists. In addition to her success in the steeplechase, she finished her career with an Academy Record in the mile (4:49.49a) and top-five Air Force all-time marks in the outdoor 5000-meter run (No. 2, 15:39.13), 1500-meter run (No. 2, 4:15.98), indoor 5000-meter run (No. 3, 15:51.73) and 3000-meter run (No. 5, 9:34.50a).

With today's announcement, Norris became the first female in Air Force Academy history to earn the league's top award – and just the second Falcon overall, joining former cross country and track standout Patrick Corona, who earned the program's first award in 2015-16.

The Mountain West Athlete of the Year award is bestowed, annually, to one male and one female student-athlete who have achieved athletic excellence during the past academic year over all 18 conference sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, volleyball. In addition to superior athletic achievement, criteria for the MW Athlete of the Year award requires that nominees be in good academic standing throughout the season of competition, and demonstrate good character and conduct on-and-off the playing field.

Players Mentioned

Mahala Norris

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