NEW ORLEANS – Oklahoma City University's Aminat Olowora garnered NAIA women's track athlete of the year as awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Olowora, a senior from Lagos, Nigeria, became the most decorated student-athlete in OCU history with 12 national championships and 16 all-American accolades over her cross country and track & field career.
Olowora put the exclamation point on her dominant career by earning the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter national championships May 23-25 in the NAIA Championships at Gulf Shores, Ala. Olowora posted a time of 34 minutes, 14.39 seconds to establish a new meet record in the 10K. She won the 5K with a time of 17:14.93. She took most outstanding performer of the meet after being the NAIA Championships' most valuable performer last year.
She ran the best times in the NAIA this season in the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters. In the 5K, Olowora completed the 5K in 15:48.48, a time that ranked 27th in college track this season, in the Mt. SAC Relays in April at Torrance, Calif. Olowora finished the 10K in 33:33.33 at the Friends Invitational on April 5 in Wichita, Kan.
Olowora paced the Stars' distance medley relay team to the national title March 2 in the NAIA indoor championships in Brookings, S.D.
In the indoor national meet, she won a mile championship and two 3,000-meter titles while sparking two distance medley relay championships and a 3,200-meter relay title. At the outdoor national championships, she captured two 5,000-meter titles and two 10,000-meter outdoor championships.
Olowora captured two national championships and two Sooner Athletic Conference crowns in cross country. She set the NAIA women's cross country championships meet record as a junior and finished her cross country career with 10 wins in 10 races.
The USTFCCCA has awarded Olowora two regional track athlete of the year honors and athlete of the year and two-time regional athlete of the year in cross country.
