LONG BEACH, Calif. - For the first time in Fresno Pacific Athletics' NCAA era, a Sunbird is taking home Athlete of the Year honors. This year's honor goes to graduate student Brianna Green who was named Female Athlete of the Year after her historic season on the track. The award is given to the best female athlete in the conference between all eight women's sports and is voted on by the conference's athletic directors. 

Adding to her long list of accolades this season, Green also earned Women's Track Athlete of the Year and Women's USTFCCCA West Region Track Athlete of the Year honors. At the PacWest Championships, Green earned Women's Track Athlete of the Meet after medaling in four events, taking home two individual medals and two team medals. Green's first gold of the day came with her teammates in the women's 4x100m relay. Green followed that up with a second-place finish in the 100m hurdles and a first-place finish in the in the 400m hurdles where she defended her title and set a new PacWest Championship meet record previously set in 2022 with a time of 57.85, a whole 2.4 seconds ahead of the field. Green finished the day with her teammates defending the 'Birds title in the 4x400 relay, earning them second place in the team competition at the PacWest Championships.  

At the NCAA DII National Championships, Green qualified for four events, the 4x100 and 4x400 relay, the 100m hurdles, and the 400m hurdles. Green reached the finals in three events, just missing the fourth by .04. After qualifying for the finals, Green and teammates won the National Championship in the 4x100 relay, breaking a DII record and Fresno Pacific school record with a time of 43.85. Green followed up that performance with an individual National Championship in the 400m hurdles running a personal best and school record 56.88, and DII sixth all-time mark. Green's win marked the first individual National Championship in Fresno Pacific history and the lone National Championship this season in the PacWest.  The Sunbirds finished the day in fourth place in the team competition, tied for the highest team finish in Fresno Pacific athletics history with the 2012 Swimming & Diving team. 

The graduate student also earned USTFCCCA All-Region Honors in four events, the 4x100 relay, 100m, 400m, 400m hurdles and is an All-American in three, the 4x100 relay, the 400m hurdles, and the 4x400 relay. 

"I feel incredibly blessed to receive this award," said Green. "I'm grateful not only for the opportunity to do what I love, but to glorify God while doing it. A huge thank you to the PacWest athletic directors for this honor. It means so much to be the first athlete in Fresno Pacific history to receive this award. Thank you to Coach Foster and Coach Ray for believing in me as both an athlete and a leader, and to my teammates and friends who pushed me to be better every day. I'm proud to represent Fresno Pacific and bring Coach Foster's signature quote to life, 'building champions'." 
 
Green graduated from Fresno Pacific with her Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and is planning to go into Sports Psychology for her Master's and is currently training to compete unattached and make the USATF team, before starting her masters program. 

"I am truly honored and pleased to have worked with Brianna Green, who has made a tremendous impact both on and off the track" said Head Coach Robert Foster. "Her contributions to FPU are invaluable, and this award is well-deserved. I look forward to witnessing the greater things that lie ahead for her."


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