T&T's Tyra Gittens was on Tuesday named the "National Women's Field Athlete of the Year" for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Track & Field season by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The local multi-sport athlete of Texas A&M Univeristy (TAMU) outstanding performances throughout the season saw her was among the list of leading athletes and coaches at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Awards.

According to the USTFCCCA website, member coaches voted on these honours following the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the past weekend in Eugene, Oregon - but considered performances during both the regular season and the NCAA postseason.

Gittens, who hails from St Augustine, amassed 24 points at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships to become the most prolific, single-year, field-event scorer in meet history thanks to a victory in the heptathlon with 6,285 points, a runner-up effort in the long jump with 6.68m and a third-place finish in the high jump with a 1.87m-leap.

On her successful display at the championships, Gittens tweeted: "As soon as I sat down on this podium I started crying. Not because I was happy... but because I was exhausted and relieved that the competition was done. It's amazing what you can push your body and mind to do but it does come with a price! Lets rest up for Tokyo."

Earlier in the season, Gittens became the third-best heptathlete in collegiate history with her 6,418 total at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Outdoor Championships.

During that multi, Gittens, a heptathlon athlete, soared 6.96m in the long jump to become the fourth-best performer in collegiate history in that event and cleared 1.95m in the high jump to equal the sixth-best performer in collegiate history there.

When combined, what Gittens did in the high jump and long jump, she did what no other woman had done in world history within the confines of the multi-sport event according the USTFCCCA release.

Gittens, 22, also set Texas A&M records in the long jump, high jump and heptathlon during the 2021 outdoor season.

TAMU athletes swept the women's top awards as Gittens' schoolmate Athing Mu, a middle distance runner, picked up the USTFCCCA "Women's National Track Athlete of the Year". The Aggie duo scored a combined 36.5 points, nearly 58 per cent of Texas A&M's team total of 63 points at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships