Cazzola Named Honda DIII Athlete Of The Year
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) has named Christy Cazzola, a senior track & field standout from UW-Oshkosh, as its 2014 Honda Division III Athlete of the Year.
Cazzola will be recognized during The Collegiate Women Sports Awards Show on Monday, June 30, at the USC Galen Center Founders Room in Los Angeles, Calif. The event, sponsored by the American Honda Motor Company, Inc., will be televised live at 5 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST) on the CBS Sports Network.
Cazzola earned the award through a national balloting of nearly 1,000 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools affiliated with the CWSA program. The Kaukauna, Wis., native joins UW-Oshkosh's Tiffany (Speckman) Ebensperger as the only other winner from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Ebensperger won the award following the 1997 cross country season.
Other Division III finalists for the 2014 Honda Athlete of the Year award were Ana Bogdanovski of Johns Hopkins University (Md.) in swimming & diving, Gabrielle Clark of Emory University (Ga.) in tennis, Allyson Fournier of Tufts University (Mass.) in softball, Chelsea Johnson of The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) in cross country, Jessica Lavelle of State University of New York-Cortland in lacrosse, Sharon Li of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in golf, Marlene Lichty of Christopher Newport University (Va.) in field hockey, Sydney Moss of Thomas More College (Ky.) in basketball, Megan Rietema of Calvin College (Mich.) in volleyball and Olivia Zitoli of William Smith College (N.Y.) in soccer.
Cazzola capped her record-breaking career with three titles at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship held May 22-24 in Delaware, Ohio. She won races at 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters while leading UW-Oshkosh to a second-place finish.
Cazzola was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. She also repeated as the Outstanding Track Performer at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship.
Cazzola contributed to three event titles at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship held March 14-15 in Lincoln, Neb. She was named the meet's Outstanding Track Performer after winning the mile and 3,000-meter runs and anchoring the Titans' victorious distance medley relay. Cazzola's efforts helped UW-Oshkosh repeat as the team champion.
Cazzola finished her collegiate career with 16 national track & field titles – eight indoor and eight outdoor. In 2012, Cazzola took first place at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship. Her resume also includes 27 WIAC titles – 12 indoor, 12 outdoor and three cross country.
In the past month, Cazzola broke NCAA Division III records with times of 2:03.45 in the 800-meter run and 4:14.20 in the 1,500-meter run.
Academically, Cazzola received her bachelor's degree during January with a 3.34 grade-point average in secondary education. The 29-year-old mother of two is currently pursuing a master's degree at UW-Oshkosh. Cazzola was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Team the last three years.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards honors the nation's top NCAA female athletes, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.
Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions. Previous Honda Cup winners include Brittney Griner, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Lisa Fernandez, Misty May-Treanor, Maya Moore and Candace Parker.
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