Big 12 Announces Athlete Of The Year Candidates
For the last several days, the Big 12 Conference has released the 20 candidates for the league’s Athlete of the Year awards. One female and one male athlete are nominated from each of the ten schools in the conference. The awards will be announced by the Big 12 next week.
TCU’s two nominees are Lauren Kellett, the goalkeeper on the Big 12 champions soccer team, and Chengetayi (Du) Mapaya, the triple jump national champion on the track and field team.
Kellet is a junior from Coppell, Texas. She was named the Big 12 goalkeeper of the year after the Horned Frogs captured both the regular season and tournament titles. She finished ranked No. 4 in the nation in save percentage and No. 8 in the nation in goals allowed average (GAA). She set a TCU season record with 10 shutouts. Kellett started all 24 games for the Frogs and finished the season with 85 saves; a .867 save percentage, and a 0.57 GAA. Kellet and her teammates took the Frogs to their second straight Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA postseason tournament.
Lauren Kellet
Mapaya is a senior from Harare, Zimbabwe. Whether indoor track and field or outdoor track and field, Mapaya kept leaping into championship territory all season. In the indoor season, he was the triple jump runner-up at the Big 12 championships and won the bronze medal in the NCAA championships. He was also named to the First Team All-American Indoor team for the triple jump. In the outdoor season, he was the triple jump Big 12 champion (his 3rd consecutive), national champion, and First Team All-American. He finished the outdoor season undefeated and ranked No. 4 in the world. He is competing this weekend at the World Championships.
The nominees from the other Big 12 schools include:
Baylor
- NaLyssa Smith – Senior – Basketball
- Jalen Pitre – Senior - Football
Iowa State
- Ashley Joens – Senior – Basketball
- Breece Hall – Junior - Football
Kansas
- Alexandra Emilianov – Senior – Track and Field
- Ochai Agbaji – Senior - Basketball
Kansas State
- Ayoka Lee – Junior – Basketball
- Deuce Vaughn – Sophomore - Football
Oklahoma
- Jocelyn Alo – Senior – Softball
- Chris Gotterup – Senior - Golf
Oklahoma State
- Taylor Roe – Junior - Cross Country and Track & Field
- Eugenio Chacarra – Senior – Golf
Texas
- Peyton Stearns – Sophomore – Tennis
- Ivan Melendez – Junior – Baseball
Texas Tech
- Ruth Usoro – Senior – Track and Field
- Ludvig Aberg – Junior – Golf
West Virginia
- Ceili McCabe – Freshman – Cross Country and Track & Field
- Zack Frazier – Sophomore - Football
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