Huston Named Top Division III Female Athlete

Honda Awards Release

NEW YORK — Everyone around Abilene and Hardin-Simmons knew that Ashley Huston had a special year on the track and that year has been rewarded as Huston was named the national female athlete of the year in Division III by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.

Each division winner will be presented the Honda Sports Award at a ceremony at Columbia University in New York City on June 22nd. The honors were based on the results of national balloting among Division II and Division III schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 33rd year. Kristin Erb, a softball player from Lock Haven University, was named the Division II winner.

“It’s a great honor to receive the Honda Sports Award,” said Huston. “I have truly been blessed with the athletic abilities God has given me and it has been exciting to represent Hardin-Simmons in this inaugural season. I am thankful for the amazing year I’ve had and the memories this year has brought. Thank you for making this year even more special. To God be the glory.”

Huston had a banner year for the Hardin-Simmons track program, which was in its inaugural season. She won the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon and high jump NCAA Championships. She was also an All-American in the indoor high jump and the outdoor long jump.

She also won five events at the American Southwest Conference Championships and she was named the national field athlete of the year by the National Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. She also was named an academic all-district selection by CoSIDA and was an academic all-ASC selection. She was also the American Southwest Conference Field Athlete of the Year.

All of this came on the heels of her tearing her anterior cruciate ligament at the end of basketball season in the 2007-08 school year.

Huston has already graduated from Hardin-Simmons and is working as a coach at Cisco High School. She graduated with a 3.74 grade point average as an Education major.

“Ashley has obviously had a tremendous season on the track, but that does not even come close to the type of person she is,” said HSU Athletic Director John Neese. “We can never thank Ashley enough for all of the positive publicity she has brought upon herself and Hardin-Simmons. She is deserving of every bit of it. Although she was only at HSU for two short years, she has left a legacy that will be hard to match. We congratulate her on this prestigious honor.”

During the June 22 ceremony in New York at which Erb and Huston will receive their Honda Sports Awards, the Honda Inspiration Award and the coveted Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award will also be presented. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.

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