Franklin Pierce’s Nyjah Young-Bey named top women’s track athlete
Published: 06-07-2023 1:49 PM |
Franklin Pierce senior Nyjah Young-Bey was named East Region's Women's Track Athlete of the Year by the the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Young-Bey is the third Franklin Pierce athlete in women's program history to earn top honors from the USTFCCCA, and the first since JuliethNwosu's Field Athlete of the Year honor following the 2021 season.
Young-Bey recently set a school record in the women's 400-meter, with a time of 54.38 seconds at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor National Championships May 25. It was her second appearance on the national stage, which added to a career accomplishment list that included six individual Northeast-10 championship titles, three USTFCCCA East Top-Performer Awards and 10 USTFCCCA All-East Region honoree for both indoor and outdoor competition.
Fenoff named top scholar-athlete
The Northeast-10 Conference named Franklin Pierce cross-country and track and field senior Riley Fenoff as the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Fenoff, who was an NE10 Man of the Year finalist in 2022, is a first-time recipient of the honor, and joins previous winners Carlos Ferrando Felis (2021-2022) and Bryan Duplissie (2005-2006) as the third student-athlete in Franklin Pierce University history to do so.
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To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be in their final year of athletic eligibility, graduating with a degree in May (unless in a master's program), enrolled in a full-time course load and must have a minimum final cumulative grade-point average of 3.3. A committee made up of faculty members and athletic administrators voted for the awards.
Fenoff has served as a five-year captain of both the Pierce cross-country and track and field programs. He is a four-time winner of the Northeast-10's Elite 24 Award for outstanding academic achievement. He also has been named to the Academic All-Conference team on two occasions, is a multi-time CSC (CoSIDA) Academic All-America honoree and is a six-time selection to the NE10 Academic All-Conference team in cross-country and track and field.
Four of Fenoff’s track and field and cross-country teammates were named to the 2023 Academic All-District men’s and women’s teams: seniors Connor Everidge and Alena Masterson and juniors Ryan Walker and Tyra Felton being chosen.
To be selected, a student-athlete must participate in at least 50 percent of their respective team's competitions and must hold at minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA. All-District recipients additionally qualify for the CSC Academic All-America ballot.
Fenoff, Masterson and Walker are on both the track and cross-country teams, and each hold cumulative 4.0 GPA's. Felton and Everidge, who compete as throwers on the track-and-field team, hold 3.58 and 3.92 cumulative GPAs, respectively.
It is the fourth career Academic All-District honor for Fenoff, while Everidge is a three-time recipient and Walker and Masterson each second-time honorees. Felton earned the honor for the first time.
Everidge, a health sciences major, was crowned the Northeast-10 Conference hammer throw champion in 2023 after setting a new program record with a mark of 52.8 meters. During the indoor campaign, Everidge was also named the recipient of the NE10 Sport Excellence Award, which recognized his efforts both on the field and the classroom.
As a fourth-year biology major, Fenoff closed out his senior campaign by taking fourth individually in the 5,000 meters, while assisting with a winning performance in the 4x800-meter relay at the Northeast-10 championships. Walker, a health sciences major who was also a participant in the victorious 4x800 relay team, recorded an individual championship win in the men's 800-meter (1:52.29).
Masterson, a communications major, was a key contributor to the Ravens’ middle-distance squad, earning four top-five finishes in 2023. The list included a third-place finish for the Ravens’ 4x800-meter women’s relay team at the NE10 outdoor championship, which helped the squad to a fourth-place finish.
Felton, a health sciences major, completed the outdoor season with nine top-five finishes between the shot put and hammer throw.
Everidge, Walker and Felton were also consensus USTFCCCA All-East Region selections from both seasons.