Trinity's McCullough, Texas Lutheran's Priour Headline 2019 Women's Track and Field Postseason Awards

Trinity's McCullough, Texas Lutheran's Priour Headline 2019 Women's Track and Field Postseason Awards

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the league office today announced its 2019 Women’s Outdoor Track & Field postseason awards.

Molly McCullough of Trinity University was selected as the Women’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year, while Cortnee Priour of Texas Lutheran University earned Field Athlete-of-the-Year honors.

Tia Hart of TLU was the coaches' choice for Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, and the Trinity coaching staff rounded out the awards, earning Women’s Staff-of-the-Year.

The all-conference team is determined by performance at the conference championship meet where the top three finishers in each event are recognized as All-SCAC. Complete All-SCAC Women's Track & Field Team

McCullough, a senior from Portland, Ore., is coming off her first career Outdoor Track & Field All-America performance in her third-straight appearance at the championship meet, after a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:51.06. McCullough also earned 2019 All-South/Southeast Region honors in the steeplechase.

In April, McCullough ran to individual conference titles in both the 5,000-meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase to lead the Tigers to their fifth consecutive SCAC Outdoor Track & Field team title. Her crown in the steeplechase was her fourth-consecutive SCAC title in the event, a first in conference history.

The versatile McCullough was also named SCAC Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year back in the fall, becoming just the fourth athlete in SCAC history to win both honors in the same academic year. McCullough joins Trinity’s Vanessa Moreno (2012-13), University of the South’s Heather Stone (1998-99, 1999-00) and Centre College’s Debbie Finke (1994-95). She is the seventh different Trinity athlete to be named SCAC Women’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year and first since Bailey Drury won in 2016.

Priour, a senior from Victoria, Texas, won the triple jump for the first time in her career at this year’s conference meet, and also finished runner-up in the long jump. Priour is just the second athlete in SCAC history to register four consecutive All-Conference performances in both the triple and long jump, joining last year’s Field Athlete-of-the-Year, Britney Sullivan of Trinity.

She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the third-straight season, this year in the triple jump for the first time in her career, having earned All-America honors in the long jump back in 2018. Priour finished 22nd at the 2019 Championships in the triple jump with a leap of 10.96m. Additionally, Priour was a 2019 All-South/Southeast Region honoree in both the triple and long jump.

Priour is just the second TLU athlete to earn SCAC Field Athlete-of-the-Year honors, joining Meredith Berger who won the award twice in 2015 and 2017.

Texas Lutheran’s Hart, a freshman from Edna, Texas, won the javelin (40.97m) and finished fifth in the shot put (10.72m) to score 12 points for her team at the 2019 SCAC championship meet. Hart also qualified for her first NCAA Outdoor Championship meet in her rookie campaign, finishing 21st overall in the javelin. In addition, Hart earned All-South/Southeast Region honors in the javelin.

Hart is the third-straight TLU student-athlete to win the Newcomer-of-the-Year honor, following teammates Dejah Carr (2018) and Ashley Rynard (2017).

Finally, the SCAC Women’s Track & Field Staff of the Year honor went to the Trinity staff after another strong season. The Tigers won the SCAC women’s track & field championship for the fifth consecutive year, defeating second place TLU by 45 points. Led by seventh-year Head Coach Marcus Whitehead, the award marks the fifth-straight year he and his assistant coaches were honored as the SCAC Women’s Staff of the Year. The Tiger women won seven events at the 2019 conference championship meet and sent two individuals to the NCAA Championships, both earning All-America accolades. Trinity also led the way among conference programs as the Tigers accounted for seven of the league’s 12 All-South/Southeast Region performers on the women’s side.