CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charleston Southern sprinter Gabrielle Houston has been named the Big South’s 2011-2012 Female Student-Athlete of the Year, the conference office announced Wednesday. The honor comes only a month and a half after the rising redshirt senior earned accolades as the Big South Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year.
Houston collected Honorable Mention All-America accolades after finishing 18th in the country with a time of 23.68 in the 200-meter event at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Her time of 23.42 in the 200 at the NCAA Preliminaries qualified for nationals, and set the Big South’s all-time standard in the event in the process.
"Working with Gabby this past year has been a great experience,” Charleston Southern Head Women’s Track Coach Tosha Ansley said. “She has come into her own as an individual and it's been great to watch her develop into the young woman that she's becoming. I have one more season to work with her and I'm looking forward to her developing her confidence in herself as an athlete and young woman. I'm so proud that’s she's being recognized for her athletic accomplishments by the Big South Conference."
Houston earned six All-Conference plaudits during the 2011-12 season, including a pair of gold medals at the 2012 Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. At that meet, she tied both the Big South championship meet record and overall record as she won the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.14. Her second first-place finish of the meet came in the 4x400-meter relay as she anchored the Buccaneers to a time of 3:51.97. Houston closed out the indoor championship with a second-place finish in the 60 meters with a time of 7.49.
During the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championship, Houston placed second in the 100-meter event with a time of 11.80 and followed with a second-place time in the 200 meters at 24.13. She helped CSU place third overall in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.13.
Additional highlights from Houston’s 2011-2012 campaign included the conference’s top times in both the outdoor 100-meter dash (11.45) at the NCAA Preliminaries, and the indoor 60-meter event (7.46) at the Big South Championship.