Humboldt State's Marissa McCay and Chico State's Will Reyes Tabbed 2017 CCAA Athletes of the Year
SAN RAMON – Humboldt State track and field athlete Marissa McCay and Chico State cross country and track and field standout Will Reyes were tabbed the 2017 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, it was announced Thursday.
The Conference’s Athlete of the Year award is voted on annually by the 13-member institutions’ Sports Information Directors.
McCay becomes the second-straight Lumberjack to earn the Conference’s top award and is the first-ever to earn both the CCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Year awards in the same year.
McCay set program records in the triple jump (40-2.75), high jump (5-10) and the heptathlon (5,128 points). McCay has also moved up to the second on the all-time list in the long jump (19-0.5), third all-time in the 100-meter hurdles (14.45 seconds) and seventh all-time in the 200-meters (25.52 seconds).
Last month at the 2017 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track Championships McCay became the institution’s first-ever Individual Champion, finishing first in the high jump with a leap of 1.77-meters (5-9.75). She also earned All-America honors in the heptathlon with an eighth-place finish (5,111 pts.)
In addition to also being selected the CCAA Scholar-Athlete of the year, the McKinleyville native was also earned the CCAA’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year, High Point and the Field Athlete of the Meet awards as a result of her second place finish in the high jump, third place finish in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles and a sixth place finish in the shot put at the 2017 Conference Championships in Chico.
McCay has also received All-West Region honors in the high jump, heptathlon, and title jump and was named CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Reyes led Chico State’s two top-eight finishes at the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field meets. In the fall Reyes finished sixth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, leading the Wildcats to a fourth-place podium finish. Then at last months national track meet he finished seventh in 10,000-meters with a time of 29:51.95 and ninth in the 5,000-meters (14:23.46).
The Elk Grove product snagged first place finishes at the 2017 CCAA Championships and NCAA West Regional, helping the Wildcats claim its 15th-straight Conference victory and its first regional title since 2014. Reyes cross country accolades include being named the United State Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) West Region Athlete of the Year and the CCAA Runner of the Year, while also earning USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition.
Reyes concluded his two-year career with the Wildcats in May as he finished among the top 10 in the nation in both the 5K and the 10K. He earned All-America and All-Region honors in both events, while also winning the five-kilometer race at the CCAA Championships with a finish of 14:01.22.
This marks the fifth time in the past seven years and ninth time in Chico State’s 17 years as a member of the CCAA that a Wildcat has won the Conference’s Male Athlete of the Year award. It is the fifth time a Chico State men’s cross country/track and field athlete has won it.