Three Pac-12 athletes earn Honda Sports Award
By the Pac-12 Conference
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Three Pac-12 athletes earned the Honda Sports Award for their respective sport this season. OREGON's Alaina Bergsma was named the volleyball recipient, USC's Annie Park earned the honor for golf and STANFORD's Nicole Gibbs took the award for tennis.
The Honda Sports Award is now in its 37th year and acknowledges athletic achievement as well as scholastic and community involvement. It is given to female athletes in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports throughout the year. Each Honda Sports Award winner is recognized as the top collegiate female athlete in her sport and the award is considered by many as one of the highest honors a female college athlete can receive in the nation.
Bergsma was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, AVCA National Player of the Year and earned All-American honors for her performance in the 2012 season. She helped lead Oregon to its first trip to the NCAA championship final.
Park, a freshman at USC, was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year in women's golf. She captured her first individual NCAA women's golf championship and led the Trojans to their third national team title after winning the Pac-12 and NCAA west regional. Park helped the Trojans finish the NCAA tournament with a record-setting 19-under par 1,133.
Gibbs claimed the NCAA singles title for the second consecutive year and helped lead the Cardinal to the 2013 NCAA team title. She earned the Honda Sports Award for the second year in a row. Gibbs repeated as the NCAA singles champion with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Nebraska's Mary Weatherholt. Gibbs won all six of her postseason matches in straight sets. Gibbs is just the second Stanford player to win an NCAA team, singles and doubles title in her career.
The Honda Sports Award winners will be narrowed to top three finalists for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, The Collegiate Woman Athlete of Year and Honda Cup award winner is selected by the CWSA Board of Directors. The Collegiate Women Sports Awards show presented by Honda will be televised live on ESPNU held in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 24 at 5 p.m. PT.