Prandini’s latest: NCAA female athlete of year in track and field
Jenna Prandini’s rocket-like ascension at Oregon now has the junior from Clovis being named the NCAA’s female athlete of the year in track and field.
It comes in the form of the Honda Sports Award while automatically qualifying her as a finalist for the NCAA’s most prestigious award of all — the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the Honda Cup, representing the best of the best in all sports.
The winner among finalists from 12 sports will be announced in a national broadcast at 6 p.m. June 29 on CBS Sports Network.
Prandini was chosen by a vote of administrators from more than 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Kentucky’s Kendra Harrison, Kansas State’s Akela Jones and Stephen F. Austin’s Demi Payne.
“All of the women are really great athletes,” Prandini said, “so to win this award is an honor. I want to thank my coaches and teammates who have helped and supported me all season long.”
Oregon coach Robert Johnson said: “What she was able to accomplish this season was absolutely amazing, and all of us here at the University of Oregon are extremely proud.”
Prandini had no rival while scoring 49 points at 2015 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships.
Indoors, she won the long jump, placed second in the 200 meters and fourth in the 60 for 23 points. Then, last week, in the outdoor finals on her home track (Hayward Field) at Eugene, Ore., she won the 100 and placed second in the 200 and long jump for 26 of the Ducks’ team-winning 59 points.
As a result, she’s now a 14-time NCAA All-American (nine outdoors, five indoors), which requires top 8 finishes in the championships.
Prandini has school outdoor records in the 100 (10.92), 200 (22.42) and long jump (22-3.75). The sprint times are Nos. 2 and 4 in collegiate history. And the only better 100 time — a 10.78 by Louisiana State’s Dawn Sowell — was executed with thin-air assist at Provo, Utah, in 1989.
Andy Boogaard: (559) 441-6400, @beepreps
This story was originally published June 19, 2015 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Prandini’s latest: NCAA female athlete of year in track and field."