Women's Indoor Track Wins the NEC Winter Team Sportsmanship Award
The Central Connecticut women's indoor track and field team was announced the winner of the Winter Team Sportsmanship Award by the Northeast Conference on Monday.
The Central Connecticut women's indoor track and field team was announced the winner of the Winter Team Sportsmanship Award by the Northeast Conference on Monday.
The awards were instituted by league Presidents in 2008 and are designed to acknowledge the team in each conference sport that, in the opinion of its peers, most closely demonstrates good sportsmanship based on the NEC Principles of Sportsmanship and Standards of Conduct. Voting is conducted at the conclusion of each season by each team and head coach, who rank teams within the conference based on a set of criteria.
Women's indoor track and field earned the league's Sportsmanship Award after winning their second straight title at the 2023 Northeast Conference Championship. Eighth CCSU athletes earned all-conference honors including Angie Rafter, Alissa Hurd, Magnalen Camara, Brooke Morabito, Tamara Rawles, Rebecca Carusone, and Marina Perry. Rafter captured the triple crown of distance running for the second year in a row, capturing gold in the mile, 3000m and 5000m and then added the top prize in the DMR. Those performances earned her, both for the second time, Most Valuable Performer and Most Outstanding Track Performer – Distance accolades.
Since the NEC Team Sportsmanship program was instituted in 2008-09, Saint Francis U has won a conference-best 43 awards, followed by Sacred Heart (35), Wagner (33), CCSU (30) and LIU (27) to round out the top-five.
"It is with tremendous pride that we recognize those teams that prioritize fair play and value winning with integrity at the highest level," said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris. "It talkes everyone from our student-athletes to coaches to administrators to Presidents to create an environment of respect and support during NEC athletic competitions, To be recognized by your peers for upholding these standards is the ultimate honor."
