CSU Athletics announces student-athlete award winners for 2016-17

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Six Colorado State athletes have been recognized for their performances in and out of competition, as CSU Athletics announced the recipients of the department's annual accolades for the 2016-17 season on Friday.

Track & field's Mostafa Hassan received the Nye Trophy (most outstanding male athlete) for the second consecutive season, while Ellen Nystrom of women's basketball earned the Virginia K. Frank Award (most outstanding female athlete). Track & field's Josh Cogdill and Janelle Lincks received the Merrill-Gheen Award and Mencimer Memorial Award, respectively, as most outstanding scholar athletes.

Rounding out honorees are track & field/cross country's Jerrell Mock and softball's Haley Hutton, who each earned the Thurman "Fum" McGraw Award. The award, named after one of CSU's all-time greats, is given to the complete student-athlete and is selected by her or his peers. Thurman "Fum" McGraw Award winners must show athletic and academic excellence, character, leadership, be involved in the community and represent the spirit of CSU.

Read below for details on each accolade and each award recipient.

Mostafa Hassan – Nye Trophy (Most Outstanding Male Athlete)
Mostafa Hassan is honored as CSU's top male athlete after a historic 2016-17 campaign. Of his numerous accomplishments over the past year, Hassan's most notable is the 2017 indoor NCAA title in the shot put, CSU's first in any sport since 2005. Hassan also won the Mountain West indoor title with a monster throw of 69-10.75 (21.30m), a mark that distinguishes him as the No. 10 performer in the indoor shot put in NCAA history. With the indoor and outdoor MW shot put titles this year, Hassan's four individual conference titles rank second in league history.

Hassan's indoor national title in the shot put lifted the Rams' men to a No. 12 national indoor finish, the highest in program history. The Cairo, Egypt native paired his indoor national title with a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During 2016-17, Hassan broke the CSU and MW indoor and outdoor shot put records, earned two First-Team All-America honors, was named Academic All-America and was selected to The Bowerman Award Watch List. Hassan ranks fourth in the world in the indoor shot put in 2017, and 14th in the world in the outdoor shot put.

Ellen Nystrom – Virginia K. Frank Award (Most Outstanding Female Athlete)
Ellen Nystrom earns accolades as CSU's top female athlete after completing a historic career with the Rams' women's basketball program. Nystrom was named MW Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the third repeat winner of the award and the first to repeat in over a decade. Nystrom was also named the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Female College Athlete of the Year, the Sportswomen of Colorado Basketball Player of the Year and was a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.

Nystrom was one of four players in the nation this year to average at least 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game for the season. Among her numerous accomplishments, Nystrom finished her career with 584 assists for the most in program history (previously 538 by Becky Hammon) and the fifth-most in MW history. Nystrom and teammate Elin Gustavsson are the only women's or men's basketball players in MW history to win four consecutive regular season conference titles (all outright), while their 63 regular-season MW wins are the most by any women's or men's basketball player in conference history.

Josh Cogdill – Merrill-Gheen Award (Most Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete)
Josh Cogdill finished out his career with CSU track & field with an All-America caliber performance in competition and a stalwart effort in the classroom. Cogdill became the second All-American in the decathlon in program history this year, placing 16th with 7,258 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for Second-Team All-America honors. Cogdill added an individual decathlon title at the MW Outdoor Championships, becoming the only three-time individual decathlon champion in conference history.

Outside of competition, Cogdill graduated from CSU with a degree in mechanical engineering. The Longmont, Colo., native is a seven-time All-Mountain West performer, a four-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree and a four-time Mountain West Scholar Athlete.

Janelle Lincks – Mencimer Memorial Award (Most Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete)
With an All-American senior season and impressive academic credentials, Janelle Lincks was named CSU's most outstanding female scholar-athlete. Lincks became the fourth CSU athlete and the first since 2012 to earn All-America honors in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Thornton, Colo., native placed 12th in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, qualifying for the finals with a program-record time of 10:00.02 in the semifinals.

The 2017 MW champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase is also a three-time All-Mountain West performer, a four-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree, a four-time MW Scholar-Athlete and has been named USTFCCCA All-Academic. In addition to owning the CSU all-time record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, she also ranks within CSU's all-time top three in the 1,500 meters and the outdoor 5,000 meters.

Jerrell Mock – Thurman "Fum" McGraw Award (Embodies the spirit of CSU, athletes' vote)
Jerrell Mock completed one of the most successful seasons by a distance athlete in program history in 2016-17, becoming a four-time All-American with a pair of accolades this year (indoor 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters). At the conference level, Mock was the individual Mountain West champion in the indoor 5,000 meters and in the 10,000 meters. For the cross country season, Mock was the MW runner-up on the men's side, and earned All-Mountain West and USTFCCCA All-Region honors. The Logan, Utah native was CSU's highest finisher at the NCAA Cross Country Championships as the Rams finished 17th.

In addition to his athletic success, Mock completed a stalwart year in the classroom. The biological sciences major was named First-Team Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and is now a seven-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree, a seven-time Mountain West Scholar Athlete and a four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree.

Haley Hutton – Thurman "Fum" McGraw Award (Embodies the spirit of CSU, athletes' vote)
Haley Hutton was the first CSU player to be named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, and was the first to win an individual conference honor since Kacie McCarthy was the MW Pitcher of the Year in 2012. The Platteville, Colo., native has now been named all-conference in all four years of her career, including two First-Team selections (2016).

The shortstop led the league in defensive assists overall (135) and in league games only (68). She also batted .357 with a .455 on base percentage, on her way to setting CSU career records in batting average, runs scored and walks.

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