May 30, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - Sarah Stevens, a sophomore on the Arizona State University track and field team, has been selected as one of four finalists for the prestigious Honda Sports Award which is given annually to the top collegiate athlete in that sport. All winners of the Honda Sports Award will become candidates for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which is awarded annually to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Stevens joins Natasha Hastings (South Carolina), Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech) and Kerron Stewart (Auburn) as the four finalists for the track and field honor this year and is the only field event athlete among the four. Both Hastings and Stewart have made a name for themselves in the sprints while Kipyego has been dominant in the distance runs.
One of only three Sun Devil track and field athletes and the first thrower nominated for the honor, Stevens joins Gea Johnson (1989-90) and Maicel Malone (1990-91) as the members of the program that have been nominated since the award's inception during the 1976-77 academic year. Stevens also is one of four ASU student-athletes this year that has been nominated in her particular sport, joining golfer Anna Nordquivst and softball players Katie Burkhart and Caitlin Cochran.
A four-time All-American, Stevens won the shot put at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships before opening a very successful outdoor campaign that has seen her lead the nation in a pair of events, setting school records and helping the Sun Devils to multiple championship titles. The national leader in the shot put and discus, Stevens also ranks fifth in the hammer and is one of only three women to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor meet in all three events. Last weekend, Stevens won the discus at the NCAA West Region Championships in Eugene, Ore., after taking second in both the shot put and the hammer. Her mark of 66.34m in the hammer broke her own school record and helped the Sun Devils to a team title.
The Pac-10 champion in the shot put and discus this year while also adding a third-place showing in the hammer, Stevens has contributed numerous points to team crowns for the Sun Devils. This year alone, the team has won every team-scored event it has entered, including its first MPSF Indoor crown, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championship (the women's first national team title), the Pac-10 Championship (back-to-back crowns) and the 2007 NCAA West Region Championship (the first in the program's history).
In addition to the honor of being selected, American Honda will donate $1,000 to the women's athletic fund at Arizona State. If Stevens is selected as the winner of the Honda Award, ASU will receive $5,000 for the athletic fund.
Stevens and her Sun Devil teammates will head to the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships next week with competition taking place June 6-9 at the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Complex in Sacramento, Calif.