DALLAS – Liberty’s Allie Zealand and MTSU’s Mustapha Bokpin were named the Conference USA Track Athletes of the Year. Bokpin also earned the Men’s Newcomer of the Year award. After earning First Team All-American recognition, Kennesaw State’s Kali Terza was named the Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. Liberty’s long jumper Markus White captured the Men’s Field Athlete of the Year honors. LA Tech’s Jaitlyn Ware earned the Women’s Newcomer of the Year. All awards were voted on by the league’s head coaches and consider the student-athlete’s performances from both the 2026 indoor and outdoor seasons.

CUSA Women’s Track Athlete of the Year – Allie Zealand, Liberty, So., Forest, Va.
Zealand was both an indoor (5th place in women's 3K, 8:45.12) and outdoor (16th place in women's 1,500, 4:11.21) All-American. She was the CUSA Indoor Women's Track Performer of the Meet and High Point Scorer of the Meet after winning all three of her events in the mile (4:37.83), 3K (9:35.37 and DMR (11:34.61). The Forest, Va., native also swept the CUSA outdoor 800 (2:05.26) and 1,500 (4:14.63) crowns. Zealand also set program records for the indoor mile (4:28.89), indoor 3K (8:44.71) and outdoor 5K (15:26.38). Her 15:26.38 in the 5K broke the Penn Relays record that stood since 1984.
 
CUSA Women’s Field Athlete of the Year – Kali Terza, Kennesaw State, Sr., Woodstock, Ga.
Terza earned CUSA Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honors after capturing gold medals and First Team All-American honors in the weight throw (indoor) and hammer throw (outdoor) events. During indoor season, Terza helped lead the Owls to their first CUSA Women’s Indoor Championship title. She set the KSU school record in the weight throw and hammer throw and had the top overall marks in both events in CUSA this season. Her hammer throw toss of 69.12m ranked No. 2 in the NCAA East Region and No. 6 in the NCAA overall during the 2026 campaign.
 
CUSA Women’s Newcomer of the Year – Jaitlyn Ware, LA Tech, Jr., Memphis, Tenn.
Ware was a three-time medalist at the CUSA Outdoor Championships, capturing gold in the 4x400, silver in the 4x100 and bronze in the 200m. On the season, the junior had nine podium finishes across the 4x100, 4x400, 100m and 200m. She set a LA Tech meet record and qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the 200m with a 23.20. At LA Tech’s Jim Mize Invitational, the Memphis, Tenn., native swept the meet, winning every event she competed in (200m, 4x100 and 4x400m).

CUSA Men’s Track Athlete and Newcomer of the Year – Mustapha Bokpin, MTSU, Jr., Bogart, Ga.
Bokpin earned First Team All-America in both the 100m and 200m at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, placing sixth in the 100m and fourth in the 200m. He is the only CUSA male track athlete to collect numerous All-America honors this season. Bokpin was named the Men’s Track Performer of the Meet and High Point Scorer of the Meet at the CUSA Outdoor Championships. He ran a personal best 20.04 in the 200m at NCAAs and clocked a personal best 9.94 in the 100m at the CUSA Championships, breaking a MTSU program record. At the CUSA Indoor Championships, he placed first in the 200m and second in the 60m. The Bogart, Ga., native was named Track Athlete of the Week six times combined between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
 
CUSA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year – Markus White, Liberty, Jr., Lynchburg, Va.
White placed fifth in the long jump with a program-record 7.93m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the top national finish by a CUSA men's long jumper since 2013. During indoor season, he ranked No. 24 nationally with his program-record 7.78m long jump at the Tiger Paw Invitational. At the CUSA indoor meet, White won the long jump (7.72m) and took third in the triple jump (PR, 15.53m). At the CUSA outdoor meet, he was second in the long jump (7.83m) and fourth in the triple jump (15.37m). The junior also took home the Florida Relays long jump title at 7.88m.