Rebeka Stowe Receives Marlene Mawson Award

Jan. 23, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas track and field and cross country runner Rebeka Stowe has been named the recipient of this year’s Marlene Mawson Female Athlete of the Year award, it was announced Saturday by Kansas Athletics. The Marlene Mawson Award is presented to a senior female athlete who has played an integral role on her respective team and has maintained a minimum of a 2.5 GPA throughout her time at KU.

Stowe, who hails from Olathe, Kan., is a four-year letterwinner for the Jayhawks in both cross country and track and field and has already left her mark as one of the top female distance runners in the program’s history. An All-American on the track and an All-Big 12 performer on the cross country trails, Stowe will graduate from KU in May with a long list of athletic accolades. She is a two-time All-Big 12 selection for the women’s cross country team and has also has twice garnered All-Region honors. On the track, she is the school-record holder in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase, the same event in which she earned First Team All-American honors last June. As a sophomore, she also helped lead the women’s distance medley relay team to an All-American distinction at the 2010 NCAA Championships.

Not only has Stowe excelled on the track, but she is just as driven and successful in the classroom. A health and physical education major, she has maintained a GPA of over 3.5 each semester of her KU career. Stowe has made the Academic All-Big 12 First Team five times and, following the 2010 cross country season, she was recognized as a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honoree. The Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) also added her to the Academic All-District team in the spring of 2011. Furthermore, she has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s and Athletics Director’s Honor Rolls every semester while at Kansas.

Despite her busy schedule of practice, meets and class, Stowe has found time to contribute to her community as well, participating in events such as Special Olympics, numerous food drives and organizing several events as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

In addition to the GPA requirement, the recipient must also have competitive ideals which have been demonstrated through her behavior during her collegiate athletics career and also have demonstrated leadership qualities, either within athletics or in other campus activities.

In 1968, Marlene Mawson started the “extramural” women’s sports program on the campus of the University of Kansas. Dr. Mawson was a full-time professor of physical education, but dedicated the majority of her spare time volunteering as the coach of the women’s field hockey, basketball, softball and volleyball teams.