Stephanie Cotter, a sophomore from Adams State University, was named the DII Honda Athlete of the Year finalist for Cross Country as announced today by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

Cotter is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Honda Athlete of the Year. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in

Cotter broke the all-time performance record of the Women's 6K in Division II en route to winning the 2019 NCAA DII Cross Country individual title and led her team to an unprecedented 56^th national title. Earlier this week, she was named the 2019 USTFCCCA Women's Runner of the Year after capturing the Regional title as well as the RMAC Conference Championship title.

The sophomore hailing from Cork, Ireland, was named the RMAC Runner of the Year and was Adams State’s top finisher in every meet she competed in this season.

“What I’m most proud of Stephanie about is that last year when she came here she really had a great middle distance background and I think early on she was probably better at cross country,” stated head coach Damon Martin. “This summer, she made a goal over the later part of the summer and early fall she worked incredibly hard to develop her aerobic capacity which has done amazing things to her physiology, and her ceiling of her improvement is now greatly improved, and now she has really developed into being a great distance runner. I think for somebody her age to reach the level that she’s at is astounding. This last couple weeks when she ran out at Nationals, we ran on a nice flat course, it was a perfect day, but to break a National record by 46 seconds is just incredible. To think that a young lady like her ran 250 meters faster than any girl has ever run in Division II is quite an achievement.”

All Honda Sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2020 Honda Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in a live telecast on CBS Sports on June 22, 2020, in downtown Los Angeles. The Honda Sports nominees are recognized in 11 DII and DIII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 44 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.

About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility

Honda also is committed to making positive contributions to the communities where it does business, conducting socially responsible business practices and promoting diversity in its workforce. From Honda's involvement in STEM education and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to its support of pediatric brain tumor research and volunteer efforts by Honda associates, including environmental clean-up activities, Honda believes in giving back to the communities where its associates live and work. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.