Texas' Julien Alfred runs away with Big 12 female athlete of the year honors

Texas sprinter Julien Alfred was named the Big 12 Conference’s Female Athlete of the Year on Monday following her record-setting senior campaign. Alfred captured the short sprints double at the NCAA indoor and outdoor track championships and set collegiate records in the indoor 60-meter dash and in the outdoor 100- and 200-meter dashes.

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The one & only💅

The Big 12’s Female Athlete of the Year – Julien Alfred 🤘 pic.twitter.com/jIq1N8F2sy

— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) July 31, 2023

Alfred is the 15th Longhorn student athlete (and 10th female) to claim the conference’s athlete of the year honor and the first since track and field standout Ashtin Zamzow in the 2018-19 athletic season.

Alfred ran her way to a dozen Big 12 individual or relay championships in her five years on the 40 Acres and is a five-time NCAA champion. This year the St. Lucia native garnered the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Performer of the Year awards as well as the USTFCCCA National Indoor and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. She is also a finalist for The Bowerman, given annually to the top track and field student-athlete in the country.

“This is an amazing accomplishment not only for Julien, but our team, coaches and the Texas community,” Longhorns track and field coach Edrick Floréal said. “It’s been a long five years with her and it’s truly something special to see it all come together during her last season. She has shown tremendous growth while being at this University and it’s shown both on and off the track.”

Alfred completed the short sprints double at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, respectively, becoming the first Big 12 female runner to ever accomplish that feat and first to do it nationally since 1993. She is just the fourth woman in NCAA history to win titles in the 60m and 200m indoors and 100m and 200m outdoors in the same season. Alfred went undefeated in the 60-meter indoors and 100- and 200-meters outdoors in 2023.

Alfred broke the 60m dash collegiate record six times in her senior season, setting the final mark at 6.94 seconds while becoming the youngest female to ever dip under seven seconds. She later went on to break the indoor 200m collegiate record with her time of 22.01 seconds and led the Longhorns to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Alfred was named the Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year and USTFCCCA National Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year.

The 14-time All American continued her success during the outdoor season, setting three collegiate records at the Texas Relays (4×100, 4×200 and the Sprint Medley relays) and going on to be crowned the high point performer of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships after sweeping the 100/200 and running the lead leg of the 4×100 winning team. Her 22.5 points helped propel Texas to its fourth-straight Big 12 Outdoor team title. She was tabbed the Big 12 Outdoor Performer of the Year.

Alfred completed her sweep at NCAAs on her home track, running the fastest all-conditions times in collegiate history in both the 100m (10.72) and 200m (21.73). She became just the third woman in the last 25 years to sweep the 100m and 200m titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championship and the third Longhorn ever to do that, joining Juliet Cuthbert (1986) and Carlette Guidry (1991). Alfred also won the 2022 NCAA 100m title and this year and became the first Longhorn to ever claim back-to-back NCAA crowns in that event.

After setting the collegiate record in the 4x100m relay NCAA Championship semifinal with a blistering time of 41.55, Alfred helped Texas defend its title with another scorching time of 41.60 in the final. The group set the collegiate record three times this season and finished the year with the top-five times in Texas history. 

With the 4×100 title, Alfred is the nation’s first female sprinter since Guidry in 1991 to secure the NCAA Championship 100m/200m/4×100 relay triple victory and became the fifth woman in NCAA history and first-ever in the Big 12 to win those three events at the same NCAA Championships. 

Alfred and the Longhorns capped off their historic run by winning their fifth NCAA Outdoor Championship title, the program’s first since 2005, with a staggering score of 83 points.

She closed out her season by being named one of three Bowerman Finalists, garnering the USTFCCCA National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year award and was a finalist for the Honda Award for Track and Field.

Alfred joins previous track and field winners Zamzow, Destinee Hooker (Track & Field, Volleyball/2008-09), Erin Aldrich (Track and Field, Volleyball/1999-2000), Suziann Reid (1998-99) and Nanceen Perry (1996-97) in being named the conference’s female athlete of the year. Softball’s Cat Osterman won the award three times (2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06), while diver Vera Ilyina received it in 1997-98.  

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Football’s Ricky Williams was Texas’ first Big 12 Athlete of the Year on the men’s side in 1997-98 and was followed by two more football student-athletes – Derrick Johnson (2004-05) and Vince Young (2005-06). Baseball’s Taylor Jungmann was the 2010-11 male honoree with swimmer Will Licon (2016-17) being the most recent Longhorn men’s student-athlete to earn the honor.