Big South Announces 2025-26 Women's Track & Field Athletes of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Radford sophomore
Jeylah Hamrick (Williamsburg, Va.) has been voted the 2025-26 Big South Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Charleston Southern sophomore
Maeva Tahou (Locarno, TI, Switzerland) has been selected the league’s 2025-26 Women's Field Athlete of the Year, it was announced today by the Conference office. The awards are voted on by the Big South track & field head coaches as part of their annual June meeting, and encompass both the indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons.
Hamrick is the second Radford runner in three years to be voted the Big South Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. She was the Big South Champion in the Indoor and Outdoor 400m -- becoming the first to sweep both 400m events since 2022, and set the Conference overall and Championship Meet record in the Indoor 400m with her time of 52.92 seconds. Hamrick also set the Big South Indoor overall record in the 300m (38.22) while recording the second-fastest overall Indoor 500m with a time of 1:13.23. She was undefeated the entire Indoor season in the 400m and was part of three 4x400m relay victories as well. Hamrick finished fourth in the 200m at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships, and anchored the Highlanders’ 4x400m relay team to the third-fastest time in conference history at 3:40.01 for a runner-up finish at the Championship Meet. During the outdoor campaign, Hamrick ran the third-fastest 400m time in Big South history with her winning performance of 52.81 at the Conference Championship Meet -- the fastest time run in four years. She also medaled at the Big South Championships in the 200m (third), the 4x100m (third) and the 4x400m (second). Hamrick qualified for the NCAA East First Round in the 400m, becoming the first Highlander sprinter to advance to the regional since 2005. In 2025-26, Hamrick set Radford records in the 300m, 400m (indoor), 500m, 600m, 4x100m and 4x400m (indoor + outdoor).
Tahou is the second CSU Buccaneer in three years to receive the Big South Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honor. Tahou earned First-Team All-America honors during the outdoor season in both the long jump and triple jump following her performances at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She was fifth in the long jump with a Big South-record distance of 6.56m, and placed sixth in the triple jump with a Big South-record leap of 13.44m. Tahou, who was named the Most Valuable Athlete at both the Big South Indoor Championship (40 points) and Outdoor Championship (50.5 points), capped her indoor season with four conference titles (200, 60m Hurdles, triple jump, long jump) and established the league’s overall and Championship Meet record the long jump (6.31m), in addition to recording the fourth-best all-time performance in the triple jump (13.03m). Tahou’s outdoor season included winning the NCAA East First Round long jump, plus a total of seven medals at the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships with four golds (100mH, 4x400m, long jump and triple jump) and three silvers (100m, 200m, 4x100m). Her time of 13.17 seconds in the 100m Hurdles at the NCAA East First Round ranks third all-time in conference history, while her season-best time of 11.52 seconds in the 100m ranks ninth in league annals. Tahou finished with all seven of CSU’s team points at the National Outdoor Meet to tie for 35th overall -- the fourth-best team point total in Big South history and the highest by any current conference member.
Finalists for the Big South’s annual Women's Track & Field awards were:
* Track Athlete of the Year:
Maeva Tahou (Charleston Southern) and
Brianna Malone (High Point)
* Field Athlete of the Year:
Ashlyn Giles (High Point)
ANNUAL WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
1997 - Angela Murphy, Coastal Carolina
1998 - Jolene Williams, Coastal Carolina
1999 - Jolene Williams, Coastal Carolina
2000 - Khadijah Conda, Radford
2001 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina
2002 - Heather Sagan, Liberty
2003 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina
2004 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina
2005 - Chasity Johnson, Coastal Carolina
2006 - Tiffany Evans, Radford
2007 - Tiffany Evans, Radford
2008 - Dionne Gibson, Charleston Southern
2009 - Charleston Southern 4x100 relay team (Dionne Gibson, Jessica Thomas, Misha Morris, Gabrielle Houston)
2010 - Natalie Pearson, UNC Asheville
2011 - Natalie Pearson, UNC Asheville
2012 - Gabrielle Houston, Charleston Southern
2013 - Erica Peake, Coastal Carolina
2014 - Jessica Gelibert, Coastal Carolina (runner); Christine Rickert, High Point (field)
2015 - Letitia Saayman, Coastal Carolina (runner); Marthaline Cooper, Winthrop (field)
2016 - Ednah Kurgat, Liberty (runner); Marthaline Cooper, Winthrop (field)
2017 - Joan Maritim, Campbell (runner); Marthaline Cooper, Winthrop (field)
2018 - Famke Heinst, High Point (runner); Sabina Allen, Campbell (field)
2019 - Famke Heinst, High Point (runner); Natasha Hamilton, Gardner-Webb (field)
2020 - none (season incomplete and canceled due to coronavirus pandemic)
2021 - Zoe Geis, High Point (track); Sydney Horn, High Point (field)
2022 - Grace Nwokocha, North Carolina A&T (track); Sydney Horn, High Point (field)
2023 - Chastity Pickett, Campbell (track); Sydney Horn, High Point (field)
2024 - Chloe Wellings, Radford (track); Chloe Greene, Charleston Southern (field)
2025 - Brianna Malone, High Point (track); Sydney Horn, High Point (field)
2026 - Jeylah Hamrick, Radford (track); Maeva Tahou, Charleston Southern (field)