COLLEGE STATION – In a historic season for Tarleton State Track and Field, the awards keep coming for the Texans. Just a day before the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, Victoria Cameron was selected as the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year and Prestina Ochonogor was named the WAC Female Freshman of the Year, the conference office announced on Tuesday.
The duo are the first Texans to earn WAC end of the year outdoor awards. The pair also becomes the first two female athletes from the same school to be named WAC Freshman and Athlete of the Year in the same season since 2007. Cameron is the first Texan female or male to earn WAC Track and Field Athlete of the Year in either the indoor or outdoor seasons. Ochonogor is the first Texan to be named outdoor freshman of the year. She is the third Texan to be named freshman of the year in either the indoor or outdoor slates joining Cameron (Indoor 2025) and Justin Raines (Indoor 2022).
After stealing the show at the WAC Championships, Victoria Cameron was named the WAC Female Most Outstanding Track Performer of the meet. Cameron was the double WAC Champion in the 100 and 200 meters at last week’s WAC Championships. Cameron achieved the female double title for the 20th time in conference history. The sophomore tallied three gold medals across the meet with her third coming from running the anchor leg in the 4×100 meter relay. For her brilliant performances in three events, she notched 22.5 points for her team, the most by any female track athlete to earn the top performer of the meet honor.
Cameron earned a berth to the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds this week in College Station, Texas in three events. The Stephenville native enters the meet as the fourth ranked athlete in the 100 and the sixth fastest in the 200. At the WAC Championships, her 11.05 time in the 100 was the fastest wind-legal time in the NCAA this season. With that mark, she set the new all-time WAC record, and the new WAC Championships meet record in the event. She broke her own school record for the fourth time this season, with all her wind-legal times accomplishing the feat. Just about an hour later, she set the new meet record in the 200 clocking in at 22.51 seconds. This mark was the fastest in Texan history and set the new All-Conditions school and all-time WAC records. But, the wind was just above the 2.0 m/s mark to not make it eligible for the wind-legal records. Cameron set the wind-legal school record in the 200 in the preliminary heats earlier in the week crossing in 23.04 seconds in just her second-ever collegiate 200-meter race. Finally, she is a member of the 4×100 meter qualifying team that tied the all-time WAC record earlier in the season at the Michael Johnson Invitational. The squad ran in 43.70 seconds and later clocked in at 43.92 seconds to earn the WAC gold medal as well.
Cameron’s record-breaking season comes just a season after nearly missing her entire freshman season due to a leg injury. In her first full regular outdoor season, the sophomore won the 100 in three of her four meets. She closed the regular season slate with three consecutive victories at the Bill Schmidt Invite, Joe Gillespie Invitational and SMU Invitational. At the Joe Gillespie Invitational she set the new facility record in 11.33 seconds. In her lone regular season race in the 200 and collegiate debut, she finished in fourth at the SMU Invitational. The sophomore earned bronze in her Texas Relays debut in a stacked field. At the time, she broke the school record for the first time crossing in 11.36 seconds.
Prestina Ochonogor was one of two female freshmen to earn gold at the WAC Championships. The freshman from Nigeria not only won gold but also was one of two athletes to set a new WAC Championships meet record. The freshman posted a pair of jumps that tied the meet record at 6.67 meters. She not only set the meet record but also broke her own school record as well for the second time this season. Ochonogor is also competing at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds this week at Texas A&M. With her best jump of the season coming last week, she ranks sixth in the NCAA West. She also earned Second Team All-WAC in the 100 finishing in seventh. The freshman turned in a collegiate best 11.62-second performance in just her third 100-meter dash on US soil.
During the regular season Ochonogor competed in three meets. She first broke the school record at the Texas Relays in her first meet of the outdoor season. She earned silver at the Texas Relays with the best jump by a collegian at 6.48 meters. Only one individual competing as unattached bested her leap and the winning jump was just a centimeter further than Prestina’s best mark. Ochonogor finished fourth at the Michael Johnson Invitational after just a pair of jumps in the only other meet of the year she competed in the long jump. In the regular season finale, she made her collegiate debut in the 100 at the SMU Invitational. She notched sixth place in 11.80 seconds.
Ochonogor is in her first season competing in the US after arriving earlier this year from Nigeria. The freshman boasted a 12th-place performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer. She was one of the youngest competitors at the games, competing at just 17 years old.
The Texans will open the NCAA West Preliminary rounds tomorrow at E.B. Cushing Stadium hosted by Texas A&M. Tarleton State has 11 athletes competing across the four days including Cameron and Ochonogor. The Purple and White will be fighting for a top 12 finish in each event to earn a bid to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. on June 11-14.
Be the first to comment