Who will Win the Honda Award?

Apr 26, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell

2012 Honda Award Winner- Kytra Hunter, Florida

The Honda Sports Award acknowledges athletic achievement as well as scholastics and community involvement, and is given to female athletes in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports throughout the year. Each Honda Sports Award winner is recognized as the top collegiate female athlete in her sport, and the award is considered by many as one of the highest honors a female college athlete can receive in the nation.

Meet the 2013 Honda Award Nominees:

Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Senior

Zamarripa, who hails from O'Fallon, Ill., won the 2013 AAI Award as the top senior gymnast in the nation and was also the West Region and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. She earned All-America honors on vault, floor and all-around, as well as regular season All-America honors on vault, bars, floor and all-around to improve her All-America haul to a school-record 19.

The Bruin senior had a dominating year in 2013, ranking No. 1 in the nation in the all-around for the final six weeks of the regular season after spending the first five weeks at No. 2. She also finished the regular season ranked No. 1 on vault, an accomplishment she achieved every year she competed. Zamarripa scored nine career perfect 10s, including three in 2013.

En route to winning her second career Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year award, Zamarripa captured Pac-12 titles in the all-around, vault and beam. She had a grand total of 28 individual victories in 2013, including team-highs of eight on vault, seven on bars, four on floor and six in the all-around. Season-high scores for Zamarripa this year were 10.0 on vault, 9.975 on bars and floor, 9.925 on beam and 39.75 to win the Pac-12 all-around title.

She set or tied conference records for most career Gymnast of the Week awards (nine), most career Special Performance of the Week awards (eight) and most Gymnast of the Week awards in a season (four). Zamarripa was also honored by the Pac-12 Conference as an All-Academic selection.

In 2010, Zamarripa competed elite and successfully made the U.S. Senior National team after landing an incredible Cheng vault and placing 8th all around at the 2010 Visa Championships.
UCLA Gymnastics

Rheagan Courville,LSU Sophmore

A Baton Rouge native, Courville led LSU to a 5th place finish in the Super Six and placed second all around at the 2013 NCAA Championships. To close our her weekend, the sophomore captured the first national title of her career by winning vault during the 2013 NCAA Event Finals and becoming the sixth national champion gymnast in LSU history. Courville was also named the 2013 SEC Gymnast of the Year and the 2013 Central Region Gymnast of the Year .

In addition, Courville led the nation with nine all-around titles, won the 2013 SEC all-around, vault and beam titles and earned six All-America honors – two on vault, two in the all-around, one on beam and one on floor.

Courville was coached by former LSU NCAA Champion Susan Jackson at the Louisiana Gymnastics Training Center
LSU Gymnastics

(c)Erin Long

Alina Weinstein, Illinois Senior

Alina Weinstein has stated that her last year has been a fairytale season, for the senior has etched her name in Illini folklore along the way. The New Jersey native earned the First-Team All-American distinction on floor at the NCAA Championships when she placed first in her session in the event with a 9.9. It was her second NCAA All-American honor in her career.

In addition this season, Weinstein became the first Illini gymnast to secure three regional titles at a single meet, taking the beam, floor and all-around crowns in Morgantown. With the first ever regular season All-American awards distributed this year, Weinstein garnered two such honors, First-Team on floor and Second-Team in the all-around. Furthermore, Weinstein was named Regional Gymnast of the Year, becoming the second Illini to accomplish the feat.

More impressively, Weinstein broke three individual records during her senior campaign. She now holds the top all-around score with a 39.625. Weinstein not only broke the floor record, but also hit her new record twice with a 9.975. Last but not least, Weinstein was the second Illini ever to score a perfect 10.0, capturing the elusive score on vault.
Illinois Gymnastics

(c) Erin Long

Bridget Sloan, Florida Freshman

Florida freshman Bridget Sloan, had an outstanding first season with the Gators. In addition to her Honda award nomination, Sloan was a member of the 2013 All-SEC team and SEC Freshman of the Year. Sloan's performance during the Super Six Final was instrumental to her teams success. Florida made history winning the first Team NCAA title in program history and becoming only the fifth school to win. In addition to the team title, Sloan is the NCAA Individual All Around and Beam Champion.

Sloan was the 2009 U.S. National All Around Champion, 2009 World All Around Champion, and a 2008 Olympic Silver medalist with Team USA while competing for Sharp's Gymnastics in Indiana under coach Marvin Sharp.

Sloan delayed college while trying for the 2012 Olympics but was forced to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials due to injury. Sloan will be inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a member of the 2007 U. S. World Championship Team that won gold.
Florida Gymnastics