Thursday, June 6, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore.  –   Track and Field standouts Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser University and Ali Worthen of Seattle Pacific University have been voted the 2012-13 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Female Co-Athletes of the Year.

Each athlete received 18 ballot points from the conference’s 10 athletic directors.

Crofts (Sr., West Vancouver, BC) won two national titles and earned four All-American awards in the 2013 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor national championships. 

In the indoor meet in March in Birmingham, Ala., she won the 800 meters in a meet-record time of 2:05.96 and also led SFU to a third-place finish in the distance medley relay (11:37.62) and an eighth-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:47.14). 

She completed a sweep of the 800-meter titles in the outdoor meet in May at Pueblo, Colo., finishing first in a time of 2:08.18.

A week prior to the outdoor national meet, she finished ninth in the USA Track & Field High Performance Distance Classic at Occidental.  Her time of 2:02.10 was not only a GNAC record but also was the third fastest time by a collegiate athlete this spring at all levels.

Crofts was selected the GNAC Indoor Athlete of the Year. She won the 800-meter title at the conference meet (2:12.29) and led the Clan to wins in both relays in times of 3:48.36 and 11:47.86.

In the outdoor conference meet, she swept the 400 and 1500-meter titles, winning the 400 in a meet-record time of 54.46 and the 1500 in a time of 4:26.85.  

Crofts, who was also named the USTFCCCA West Region Athlete of the Year, also led the Clan to a second-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:46.04.

Worthen (Sr., Coos Bay, OR) capped a brilliant career, by winning the heptathlon at the NCAA national meet with a score of 5,340 points. 

That helped earn her SPU Athlete of the Year honors for the second time in her career.

Earlier she earned Outstanding Performer honors at the GNAC championships at Monmouth, scoring 42 points, the third highest total in meet history.  In the process she tied the GNAC record for most career points of 115 set by Bridget Johnson of Western Oregon between 2003 and 2006.

Worthen won four titles – the 100-meter hurdles (14.24), long jump (meet record 19-8), heptathlon (5,390) and 4x100 meter relay (meet-record 46.77) - and also finished third in the 200 meters (25.00) and high jump (5-5 ¾).

She also set GNAC career records for most individual wins (7), most individual and relay victories (10), most individual all-conference awards (12) and most individual and relay all-conference awards (15).