Tuesday, June 18, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore.  –  Simon Fraser University track and field athlete Helen Crofts and University of Alaska Anchorage basketball player Alysa Horn have been chosen as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference candidates for the 23rd annual NCAA Woman of the Year award.

The award honors senior student-athletes for their collegiate achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics.  Later this summer 30 finalists – 10 from each of the NCAA’s three divisions – will be named. The top nine – three each from Divisions I, II and III - will be honored at the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year   dinner in Indianapolis on Oct. 20.

Crofts (West Vancouver, BC) had a spectacular career not only on the track, but also in the classroom at Simon Fraser, compiling a near-perfect 4.14 GPA in the Canadian system that awards 4.33 points for an A+ (as opposed to the U.S. system which awards a maximum of 4.00).

A biological science major with a concentration in Cells, Molecules and Physiology, Crofts compiled the highest GPA at SFU in earning the Bill DeVries Award for excellence in academics and athletics.

She accomplished all that academically while also winning two national titles and four All-American awards during 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.

Horn finished her basketball career with some of the best numbers in UAA history.  She ranks ninth in school history in total points (1,134), eighth in rebounds (639), ninth in blocked shots (59) and sixth in three-pointers made (113).

Horn, who became just the fifth player in school history to achieve 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 50 blocks, averaged 15.4 points and 9.0 rebounds and also had 34 blocks and 44 steals in earning GNAC second team all-conference honors last winter.

She was also a standout in the classroom, compiling a 3.67 GPA in earning GNAC all-academic honors three times.  She was also a seven-time selection to the UAA Dean’s List.