Lewis Claims Back-to-Back CCAA Track & Field Athlete of the Year Honors
Last season’s comeback queen is still on top as San Francisco State’s Monisha Lewis has repeated as CCAA Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year, as voted on by the 13 head coaches across the conference.
The senior from Rancho Cucamonga, who took a seven-year hiatus from collegiate competition to raise a family, reintroduced herself to the track & field community in 2018, claiming the CCAA 100 meter hurdles title and helping the Gators to their first-ever team championship.
In 2019, Lewis repeated the feat, gliding to the top of the podium at the CCAA Championships in a then season-best 13.45 seconds. She went on to help the Gators earn their second-straight CCAA Championship team title placing second in the 400 meter hurdles and fourth in the 100 meter dash as well.
At the NCAA Championships, Lewis was again in top form, as San Francisco State garnered their highest-ever national finish with a fifth-place result. Lewis’ performances were highlighted by her second-straight silver medal finish in the NCAA field of the 100 meter hurdles. The All-American clocked in at 13.29 seconds en route to the runner-up trophy, one of three All-American performances. Also running as part of the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams, the Gators raced to second in both those events as well, narrowly bested in both only by the foursome from Lincoln (Mo.) as the Blue Tigers claimed the NCAA National Championship.
After two seasons wearing purple and gold, Lewis leaves the Gators with the school record in both outdoor hurdles distances as well as the 60-meter indoor distance, and her names is second on the list of 100 meter dash performances and in the top five in both outdoor relays (4th – 4x100m; 3rd – 4x400m).
The path was not as straightforward as what most would say is the typical route to a college degree for Lewis, but on Tuesday, the journey that started nine years ago in Boise was finished in the city by the Bay. As noted in an excerpt of
this feature in the SF Examiner:
On Tuesday, nine years later, after a marriage, two kids, a junior college stint and an All-American track career at San Francisco State, Lewis graduated with a degree in Africana Studies and hopes of running in the Olympics. Although she chose not to walk in the ceremony, she decided to celebrate over dinner with her family.
“It’s really over, so it’s scary. I can’t believe it,” Lewis said. “I don’t know what to think … But at the same time, I’m so happy with everything that I’ve accomplished in the two years that I’ve been here and I’m happy with what is going to come after this.”
Before graduating on May 28 with a degree in Africana Studies, Lewis, 27, was running in Texas at the Division II National Championships, where she earned All-American honors after finishing second in the 100m hurdles and finishing first as a part of the 4x400m and the 4x100m relay teams.
Now, she has her sights set on running in the USA Championships in July and qualifying for the 2020 Olympics. She’s also starting her own athletic apparel line to run in called HEEL — Heart, Endurance, Excellence and Leadership — the name of a journal she published for athletes.
“When I think of her I just think of the word strength and just thinking about how much she’s persevered through,” said Asaundra Dalton, the Gators’ sprint coach.