Parker Valby, a junior from the University of Florida, was named the Honda Sport Award winner for Track & Field as announced today by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
Earlier this year, Valby was also named the Honda Award winner for Cross Country. This marks the first time since 2011, and the fifth time overall, that a student-athlete has won the award for both sports in the same year. The last to achieve this was Sheila Reid, who won for cross country and track & field in the Class of 2011.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 48 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2024 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2024, at 7 PM ET, from its new home in New York City.
Valby was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included McKenzie Long (Mississippi), Maia Ramsden (Harvard) and Jaida Ross (Oregon).
Valby is the first female distance runner in NCAA history to win five NCAA individual titles in a single season, all in meet record times. She lowered her collegiate 5,000-meter record while winning the 2024 NCAA Indoor title, claimed the NCAA Outdoor title, and set meet records for both the NCAA 3000m indoors and 10,000m outdoors, both with five-second winning margins. In April's Bryan Clay Invitational, she also lowered the collegiate 10,000m record by almost 28 seconds. Valby began the 2023-24 national win streak by becoming the first to win an NCAA Cross Country title in a sub-19-minute time.
Hailing from Tampa, Florida, she has won all 13 finals she competed in during the 2023-24 season and helped her team to a runner-up finish at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championship. She is a nine-time United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American across the two sports.
During conference competition, she swept the honors by being named the 2023 SEC Cross Country Runner of the Year as well as the 2024 SEC Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Runner of the Year, and is a six-time SEC Champion overall.
Off the course and the track, she is a three-time SEC All-First Team honoree and a USTFCCCA All-Academic team member.
The CWSA, entering its 48th year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on the areas of education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.