Kerron Stewart ... at full throttle for Auburn University. - Contributed

Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

WORLD JUNIOR Championship gold medallist Kerron Stewart has been voted the Americas' top collegiate female track and field athlete for 2007.

Stewart, who was part of Jamaica's winning sprint relay team at the 2002 World Juniors, competed for Auburn and landed the honour based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards programme, now in its 31st year.

Honda Sports Award

Stewart's victory will earn her the Honda Sports Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with an automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

She was voted over three other nominees: Sarah Stevens, a sophomore at Arizona State University; Natasha Hastings, a junior at the University of South Carolina; and the 2007 Honda Sports Award winner for cross country, Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego.

The candidates were selected by the National Association of Collegiate Track and Field Coaches.

"It feels really good to win an award that so many great athletes have received," said Stewart. "In my first season at Auburn, I was able to train with former Honda Award winner Elva Goulbourne (2003) and now to be recognised as one of the best athletes in track and field is great!" she said.

"It is an honour to win an award that Jackie Joyner-Kersee has also won for track and field. She is a model to female athletes everywhere and has helped give women in sports the recognition they deserve."

A native of St. Catherine, Stewart recently capped an undefeated season by winning a national NCAA title in the 200m with a time of 22.42, just 0.01 second shy of breaking her own school record, which she set at the Mideast Regional Championships.

Fourth fastest time

At that meet she broke both the regional and stadium records and recorded what currently ranks as the fourth fastest time in the world for a female runner. Stewart was also this year's NCAA indoor champion in 60m and 200m and was chosen National, South Region and SEC Indoor Track Athlete of Year.

Stewart was the SEC champion in the 100m and 200m, setting school records in the process. She won every individual event she competed in the 2007 season and was recently named a repeat winner of the SEC Women's Outdoor Track Runner of the Year award. Following the 2006 season, she was also named USTFCCCA National Runner of Year. Stewart holds outdoor school records in the 100m and 200m, as well as indoor records in the 55m, 60m and 200m.

An adult education major, Stewart is slated to graduate from Auburn University in autumn and currently has a 3.14 GPA. Upon graduation, she plans on trying out for the Olympics but also would like to work in a field in which she can help children.