Photo - UK Athletics
If she’s healthy, Kentucky senior Abby Steiner is the nation’s dominant sprinter and that’s why she was named the National Women’s 2021-2022 Track Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Monday.
Steiner had a sensational indoor season setting an American record in the 200-meter dash, winning three yearly awards and also winning six weekly awards.
She defended her NCAA championship in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.16 seconds in Birmingham in her most recent meet. It was the fastest 200 ever in the NCAA Championships and also broke the facility record in Birmingham.
However, it was not her best time of the season even if it was the second-fastest 200 in American history because she set the American record Feb. 26 of 22.09 while winning the SEC 200 championship for the third year in a row while breaking the all-time collegiate record with her time at Texas A&M.
The previous American record was 22.23 by Gwen Torrence — a five-time Olympic medalist with three gold medals — at the USA Championship in 1996.
Steiner also finished second in the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record time of 7.10 seconds. She was also part of the 4×400-meter relay team that took third.
Steiner was named SEC Women’s Runner of the Year. At Clemson in February, Steiner broke the 200 collegiate record for the second time in her career and the first time this season when she ran 22.37.
Steiner tied the then-60-meter school record Dezerea Bryant set in 2014 at Clemson, with the top time of 7.12.
Steiner broke the collegiate record in the 200 for the first time at the NCAA Championships in 2021 with a then-collegiate record of 22.38.
