SAN FRANCISCO—Arizona State track and field’s senior Shelby Houlihan was named the 2015 Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, the league office announced on Wednesday.
“Without question, the Pac-12 Conference is the finest middle distance and distance conference in the country,” Director of Track and Field Greg Kraft said. “For Shelby Houlihan to be a three-time Pac-12 Champion in the 1500m, which has only happened once before, but to do it in the style that she did, doubling back against that level of competition two years in a row, and then to win the 5000m, it definitely says that she’s the best distance runner in the Conference of Champions. When you couple that with her Pac-12 title in cross country, breaking the mile record at the NCAA indoor championships, it’s just been a phenomenal year and we’re excited to watch her run in the regionals, at NCAAs, and in all of her future races. It’s much deserved.”
A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Houlihan defended her Pac-12 titles in the 1500m and 5000m at last weekend’s conference championships in Los Angeles on the campus of UCLA.
In the 1500m, Houlihan led from wire-to-wire, winning the race in a meet record 4:11.06, finishing five seconds ahead of the field and breaking UCLA’s Lena Nilsson 2003 record of 4:13.21. Houlihan is now just the second athlete to win three Pac-10/12 conference titles in the 1500m, joining USC’s Grazyna Oenc, who won in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Later that same day, Houlihan closed strong to win the 5000m run finals in a personal best 15:58.45, knocking nearly 13 seconds off her previous best, which she set at 16:11.63 when she won the 2014 Pac-12 title. The new best moves Houlihan to No. 5 in the ASU outdoor top-10 list.
“It’s obviously a great achievement,” distance coach Louie Quintana said. “This is one of the greatest conferences in the country, so for Shelby to get awarded that this year, is a feather in her cap for her career at Arizona State, and springboards her into the championship portion of the season. Being able to run both of her events at a very high level in a very short period of time is an exciting proposition for the rest of the season. We’re really proud of her achievement and this is great for her, for our program, and we’re really excited for these next few weeks.”
Houlihan’s performances helped the ASU women to a fourth-place at the conference meet. Additionally, Houlihan and the Sun Devil women went 3-0 over their counterparts at Arizona during cross country and indoor track and field as part of the 2014-15 Territorial Cup Series.
The last time a Sun Devil earned conference Athlete of the Year honors was in 2010 when Ryan Whiting was named Pac-10 Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.
A ten-time All American, Houlihan was also named the Pac-12 Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2014, earned indoor All-America honors in the mile and 3000m, and was the Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete of the Week on March 30, 2015.
Up next, Houlihan and the Sun Devils who qualify for the NCAA West Regional will compete on May 28-30 in Austin, Texas, for a chance to compete at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 10-13.
2015 Pac-12 Awards
Women's Track Athlete of the Year: Shelby Houlihan, ASU
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Jasmine Todd, ORE
Women's T&F Freshman of the Year: Erin Clark, COLO
Women's T&F Coach of the Year: Caryl Smith Gilbert, USC
Men's Track Athlete of the Year: Andre De Grasse, USC
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Pau Tonnesen, ARIZ
Men's T&F Freshman of the Year: Marquis Morris, USC
Men's T&F Coach of the Year: Caryl Smith Gilbert, USC