Natalie Pearson Named BSC Female Athlete of Year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – UNC Asheville senior sprinter Natalie Pearson (Sheffield, England) has been voted the Big South Conference Female Student-Athlete of the Year for the 2010-11 season by the League’s Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the Conference office.

Pearson is the first UNC Asheville student-athlete to win the Conference’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year award. She received 70 points and nine first-place votes to become the first track & field athlete to be honored since Radford’s Tiffany Evans in 2005-06, and the fourth overall. Pearson finished ahead of Liberty cross country runner Jennifer Klugh, Charleston Southern women’s basketball player Katie Tull and Liberty softball All-American Kelly Strickland, who all tied for second with 42 points. Radford softball player Nichole Beall finished fifth in the voting with 33 points.

Pearson was the Big South’s lone women’s track & field athlete to qualify for the national meet in 2010-11, and she became Asheville’s first-ever two-time national qualifier as she earned her second-straight bid to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 200-meter dash. She finished 24th overall with a time of 23.99 to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors. During the 2010-11 campaign, Pearson took home the gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championship and was second in the 60-meter and 200-meter races at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championship. Her effort in the outdoor 200 meters set the VMI facility record as she crossed the line in 23.78. She finished her career as Asheville’s record holder in the 55-meter, 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter events and is the only Bulldog student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Pearson was selected the 2010-11 Big South Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Pearson was also voted to the Big South Women’s Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Team in 2010-11, and was named UNC Asheville Female Athlete of the Year for the third-straight year. In addition, Pearson was the school’s NCAA Women of the Year nominee.

In March 2000, the Big South Conference Executive Committee voted to create an annual Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year award, and name the male award in honor of former Charleston Southern Athletic Director Howard Bagwell, who was one of the founders of the Big South Conference. The annual nominees consist of the Players of the Year from each sport for the regular season most recently completed.

Related