CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Conference Carolinas has announced the 2009-2010 Male and Female Athlete of the Year award recipients and Queens' own Tanya Zeferjahn (Hesperia, Calif., Hesperia High School)has been selected as the league's Female Athlete of the Year. Zeferjahn becomes the fourth Royal to win the honor, but the first female.
Zeferjahn, a graduate student from Hesperia, Calif., had a fantastic final year for Queens University of Charlotte outdoor track. Zeferjahn captured one national title, the 10,000-meter, and was the runner up in her second event, the 5,000-meter. The 2010 Southeast Regional Female Track Athlete of the Year etched her name in the Queens record books by setting three outdoor track records. She holds the records in the 1,500-meter run (4:28.76), the 5,000-meter event (16:03.51) and the 10,000-meter (33:09.47). Her record-setting runs were all automatic qualifying times for the NCAA, yet she only elected to run in the two longer distances.
For her efforts at the NCAA Championship she was twice named an All-American by the United State Track and Field and Cross Country Association. Her capture of the 10,000m gave her back-to-back national titles in the event, the first time in 12 years for the Championship. She is now the only women’s athlete to hold national titles in Queens’ history.
With her strong performances, the Royals women’s team finished sixth out of the 62-team field, the highest end of season ranking for a Queens women’s program. Earlier in the season, Zeferjahn was able to capture the 10,000m Conference Carolinas Title and was once named the Conference Carolinas Track Athlete of the Week.
The award winners are selected by Directors of Athletics from each league institution. Erskine's Bryan Fogle was selected as this year's Male Athlete of the Year.
Previous Queens winners inlcude men's track athlete Michale Crouch, 2008-2009, men's basketball players Spencer Ross, 2003-2004, and Soce Faye, 1997-1998.