Duncan gets two major track and field awards
After leading the LSU women’s track and field team to another national championship, junior sprinter Kimberlyn Duncan was honored Wednesday as the recipient of two major awards as the NCAA’s premier track and field athlete.
Duncan is this year’s recipient of the Honda Sports Award for collegiate track and field, as named by the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards, and the NCAA Division I National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award, as named by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Duncan is also the leading contender to take home The Bowerman, which is track and field’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.
“I’m certainly honored that I would even be considered for these kinds of awards,” Duncan said following her selection as the winner of each award.
“This has been an amazing season for our team as our total focus has been on winning a national championship. I’m proud of everyone on this team in how we really stepped it up to achieve that goal last week at Drake (University). That’s what our program is most known for, and we’re proud to continue the tradition of winning national championships at LSU.”
She is the third Lady Tiger track and field star to take home the Honda Sports Award. D’Andre Hill (1995-96) and Keisha Spencer (1999-2000) were honored during their senior seasons with the program.
Duncan is the first Lady Tiger to be honored as the NCAA Division I National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA since its inaugural announcement after the 2006 season.
A native of Katy, Texas, she was the top scoring athlete at the NCAA championships for the second season in a row, with 20.5 points. She repeated as the NCAA champion in the 200-meter dash, ran the anchor leg for LSU’s NCAA champion 4x100-meter relay team and captured second place in the 100-meter dash.
That helped propel the LSU women to a 76-62 victory over Oregon in the women’s team standings, clinching the Lady Tigers’ first outdoor team title since 2008.
It has been a record-breaking junior season for Duncan, who claimed her second straight NCAA 200-meter title Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium.
Her personal-record time of 22.19 seconds stands No. 2 on the NCAA’s all-time list, trailing only the recognized collegiate record of 22.04 set at altitude by LSU great Dawn Sowell at the 1989 NCAA Championships in Provo, Utah.
Duncan’s time of 22.19 also ranks her No. 2 on the world list for the 2012 outdoor season.
She also set an indoor PR of 22.74 for the world’s fastest run indoors while defending her NCAA indoor crown.