Alia Armstrong, a star hurdler for the LSU track and field team, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Female Amateur Athlete of the Year from the New Orleans area for 2021-22. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
Armstrong, a sophomore at LSU and a graduate of St. Katharine Drexel Prep in New Orleans, captured the national championship in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 11. Her time of 12.57 seconds in rainy conditions landed LSU its first 100-meter hurdle title since 2000.
“Surprisingly this was my first time ever running in the rain,” Armstrong said. “Honestly, I just locked in and got the job done. I knew everybody was running in the same conditions as me. This (win) means the absolute world to me. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a baby. The fact that I made it and made my mom proud, that’s all that matters.”
Armstrong followed up her NCAA Championship performance by placed third in the 100-meter hurdles at the United States Track & Field Championships (all athletes, including professionals) to earn a slot on Team USA for the Track & Field World Championships to be held in July. She posted a time of 12.47 seconds to earn her spot 0n the national team.
The other finalists for Greater New Orleans Female Athlete of the Year were Kate Baker (Dominican Volleyball), Kennedy Hansberry (Loyola Basketball) and Jaylee Womack (Ponchatoula Basketball). Baker, a 5-8 senior setter, capped an outstanding season for Dominican by earning Outstanding Player honors in the LHSAA Division I state championship match on November 13. In the championship match, Baker, a setter, tallied 52 assists and 38 digs as Dominican captured its second straight title. Hansberry, a senior from Atlanta, earned All-America recognition and was the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year after scoring 14.3 points per game to lead the Wolf Pack to the conference title. Womack led the Green Wave to a thrilling LHSAA Class 5A state championship after averaging 27.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 5.5 steals per game. She achieved the 1,000-point milestone (1,030) for her senior season alone and finished her career with 2,865 points.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month - the honors enter their 66th year in 2022. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 100 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 20 Heisman Trophy winners in its 88-year history. The 89th annual Sugar Bowl Classic is scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 31, 2022. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.2 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
-AllstateSugarBowl.org-
