BATON ROUGE, La. — Southern University's Tashina Alase was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Women's Co-Track Athlete of the Year, while Taylor Hankton and Ariyonna Edmond also garnered All-Louisiana honors, the organization announced Monday.
 
Alase capped one of the greatest seasons in program history by earning First Team Outdoor All-America honors after placing eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She became the first Lady Jaguar to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 1994 and the first Southern student-athlete, male or female, to compete at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the same season.
 
The senior rewrote both the Southern and SWAC record books throughout the year. She shattered the SWAC record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.64 seconds, tying for the fastest time in the NCAA during the season while ranking third in the world at the time. Her mark currently ranks No. 20 in the world.
 
Alase also broke Southern's school record in the 100-meter hurdles three times and reset the program record in the 60-meter hurdles on three occasions during the indoor season. She earned Second Team Indoor All-America honors after finishing 12th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Additionally, she captured the SWAC title in the 60-meter hurdles while placing third in both the 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay at the conference championships.
 
Hankton earned All-Louisiana recognition after posting Louisiana's fastest 400-meter hurdles time of the season, clocking 58.41 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold. The freshman was named SWAC Women's Newcomer of the Week following her fifth-place finish against one of the nation's premier fields.
 
She claimed her first collegiate victory in the 400-meter hurdles at the Pelican Relays, finished third at the SWAC Outdoor Championships, and advanced to the NCAA East First Round in her first postseason appearance.
 
Edmond received All-Louisiana honors after recording the state's third-best hammer throw of the season with a mark of 54.43 meters (178-7) at the SWAC Outdoor Championships. The junior swept the conference titles in the hammer throw and shot put, winning the shot put with a throw of 13.71 meters (44-11.75).
 
Edmond was named SWAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week after setting personal bests in both the shot put (13.37m/43-10.5) and hammer throw (52.57m/172-6) while winning both events at the Pelican Relays. She also captured titles in the shot put and hammer throw at the Strawberry Relays, establishing herself as one of the conference's premier field athletes throughout the season.

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