After the Kennesaw State track and field teams had two meets in recent weeks, two athletes won major awards for their athletic performance last calendar year on Sunday, Jan. 27.
Dayo Akindele and Jocselyn Powell won Male and Female Athletes of the Year, as chosen by members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at the annual Owls Choice Awards Banquet.
Both players won All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors, as they set records and helped their teams win conference championships.
Now in his senior year, Akindele has been a leader of the men’s team for his entire Owls career, helping them finish at the top of the conference in both indoor and outdoor competitions.
For the past two seasons, Akindele has been named as the most outstanding performer of the ASUN Conference Championships for the indoor season, where he excelled in the long jump, triple jump and the 60-meter hurdles.
During the outdoor season last year, he set the school record for the 100-meter hurdles.
Powell similarly found success during the indoor season, performing well in multiple hurdle distances and relays. A senior last season, she has been an all-conference selection every year of her KSU career. At the end of the season, Powell ranked thirteenth in the nation for the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.28. She led the team to an outdoor championship.
In the weeks prior to the awards ceremony, both track teams traveled to meets at Samford on Jan. 18, before heading to Liberty the next week.
At Samford, freshman star Brenda Ayuk continued the momentum she had from the cross country season when she frequently finished as the top finisher for the school. A distance runner by trade, the Cameroonian participated in the 1000-meter race where she broke a school record with a time of 2:51.54.
At Liberty, three Owls won events while several others placed top-three finishes.
Senior throw specialist Chuck McConville won the weight throw, Latvian jumper Julija Tarvide cleared 1.7 meters in the high jump to win and distance runner Chase Kennedy was victorious in the 3K race.
The Owls return to Samford for a meet on Feb. 8 before heading to the ASUN Conference Championships on Feb. 22.
