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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Arkansas’ Taylor Werner has been named SEC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year by a vote of the league head coaches. This marks the fifth conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor attained by Werner and her second award for an SEC Outdoor season.

The only other to claim a pair of women’s SEC Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors was Tennessee’s Sarah Bowman in 2008 and 2009.

This is the fifth time a Razorback female has garnered this SEC award for outdoor track and field since it began with the 2004 season. Previous recipients included: Maureen Scott (2004), Tara Diebold (2012), Alexis Weeks (2017), and Werner (2019).

Werner achieved a 3.967 grade point average in Kinesiology: Exercise Science. The senior from Ste. Genevieve, Mo., is a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and last fall became the first female athlete to twice be named SEC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. 

A six-time United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honoree, Werner swept all three SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in 2018-19 for cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field.

Werner has claimed four SEC titles in the 3,000m (2019 Indoor) and the 5,000m (2017 Indoor, 2019 Indoor, 2019 Outdoor) while finishing runner-up on two occasions in the 3,000m (2017 Indoor), and 10,000m (2017 Outdoor) as well as twice in SEC cross country (2017, 2019).

Competing unattached during a red-shirt 2020 indoor season, Werner set career best times in the 3,000m and 5,000m. Her time of 15:11.19 won the 5k in a Boston meet held in December of 2019, qualifying her for the Olympic Trials, and bettered the collegiate record. In the 3k, a time of 8:51.19 placed her fourth in the Millrose Games.

In her last outdoor season, Werner set three career best times in 2019 at distances of 1,500m (4:17.79), 5,000m (15:38.51) and 10,000m (32:26.38), ranking second on the Arkansas all-time list in the 5k and 10k.

Werner capped off the 2019 outdoors season as silver medalist in the NCAA Outdoor 5,000m and finished fourth in the NCAA 10,000m.

The SEC recognizes a Scholar-Athlete of the Year in each of its 21 sponsored sports.