Tulane's Lyngstad Nominated for Honda Sports Award

NEW ORLEANS - After another stellar season, Tulane student-athlete Hanne Lyngstad has been nominated for the 1999-2000 Cross Country Honda Sports Award. The award is given annually to the top female athlete in the sport.

Lyngstad, a junior from Elverum, Norway, is one of four national finalists for the award. She just completed another outstanding season of competition for the Green Wave in which she did not finish lower than fourth in any of the six meets in which she competed. She also set a new school record with a season-best time of 16:43.2.

Lyngstad captured four individual wins this season, including the 1999 Conference USA championship, which she won for the second consecutive year. For her efforts, she was named the C-USA Runner of the Year for the second straight time. She also earned 1999 NCAA all-District honors and qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second time with a runner-up finish at the 1999 NCAA South Central District Championships.

She capped her season with a fourth-place finish at the 1999 NCAA Championships with a 5,000-meter time of 16:50.30. She also garnered All-America honors for her efforts. She is the only student-athlete in school history to earn consecutive berths to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Lyngstad is also the first Tulane runner, male of female, to earn All-America honors in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. She has earned All-America accolades six times in her career and has finished sixth or better six different times at NCAA championship events.

The Cross Country Honda Sports Award has been awarded annually since 1976-77. The winner automatically qualifies for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which is awarded annually to the nation's outstanding collegiate woman athlete.