THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda announced today that Summer Sanders, former Olympic Gold medalist and Honda Sports Award winner, will emcee the CWSA Celebration Luncheon presented by Honda honoring the Class of 2015 Honda Award winners and will moderate panel discussions during the CWSA Huddle event at the Orthopaedic Institute for Children.
The Honda Luncheon and CWSA Huddle are lead-in events to the Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented by Honda's announcement of the prestigious Honda Cup which airs live on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 29, at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET, from the USC Galen Center Founders Room in Los Angeles, Calif.
Sanders was only the second woman to qualify for four events in the 1992 Olympics and went on to win four medals, including two gold medals in the 200 butterfly and 4x100 medley relay. She captured eight NCAA National Championship titles, including the 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 IM and the 4x100 medley relay. A back-to-back NCAA Swimmer of the Year, she helped Stanford to the 1992 NCAA National Championship title. She has since gone on to a career in sportscasting, reporting and acting. Most recently she can be seen on the CBS all female sports talk show, “We Need to Talk”.
"After Summer’s swimming legacy she is now creating a multi-media one, and given her honed skill sets in television work, it was a natural to bring her back,” said Chris Voelz, CWSA Executive Director. “Just as Summer became the second woman to qualify for four individual events at one Olympiad in the 1992 Olympic Trials, she follows Anne Meyers Drysdale (HONDA CUP 1978) in being the first Honda sport winner to lead three of our activities serving as moderator of the Huddle; emcee of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Celebration Luncheon presented by Honda and the presenter for the 2015 Honda Inspiration Award all the while serving as a guest alum.”
In addition to Sanders, special guests attending the Celebration Luncheon include former Honda Cup winners Angela Williams and Jill Sterkel. The alums will join the tradition of honoring the latest class of winners in an annual toast.
Williams won the Honda Cup in 2002 and was a world-class track & field performer at the University of Southern California. She is the only athlete--male or female--ever to win four consecutive NCAA 100-meter dash championships and is a two-time Olympian (2004, 2008). She is an eight-time All-American and led USC to its first NCAA women’s team title in 2001.
Sterkel was the Honda Cup winner in 1981 from the University of Texas and was the first woman to make four U.S. Olympic swim teams (1976, ’80, ’84, ’88). She was 15 when she won her first gold medal in the 400 IM relay at the 1976 games in Montreal and went on to win four medals spanning a 12-year Olympic career. She has won 20 U.S. National Championships and 21 NCAA/AIAW National Championships while leading her team to 12 top 10 finishes in the NCAA Championships.
“We are thrilled to have guest alums present who represent three different decades of Honda winners; two conferences; three great universities and now living in three different states - California; Colorado and Texas,” said Voelz. “We welcome them back to the CWSA family!”.