UW Nominated For Multiple Seattle Sports Star Awards

SEATTLE – Two University of Washington athletics programs have been nominated for 2024 Seattle Sports Star of the Year awards, the Seattle Sports Commission announced on Monday.
 
UW Football has been nominated for Sports Story of the Year for the second consecutive year. After an undefeated regular season, the Dawgs won the Pac-12 Championship, defeating rival Oregon for a second time this season. The No. 2 Huskies then topped Texas in the CFP Semifinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl to advance to the CFP National Championship.
 
The Washington men’s track and field team is also up for Sports Story of the Year. The Huskies had one of their best seasons in program history, including a major upset as they broke Oregon’s 15-year winning streak to bring home UW’s first-ever Pac-12 Championship. They made national history with eight student-athletes running sub-four-minute miles in the same race (twice!) and became just the second team ever to win every Pac-12 Championship distance race. The Huskies also finished fourth at NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Two Huskies have been nominated for Sports Star of the Year, Men’s Sports. For the second-straight year, Michael Penix Jr. is one of the five candidates. The Maxwell Award recipient and Heisman runner-up led the Huskies to a 14-1 season and 25-3 record in his two seasons on Montlake. He led the nation in passing for the second consecutive year is the first quarterback in program history to record 4,000 passing yards in back-to-back seasons.
 
Rome Odunze is also a nominee for Sports Star of the Year, Men’s Sports. The AP/All-Pac-12 First-Team selection finished his career as one of the best receivers in program history. Odunze now holds the school records for most receiving yards in a single season (1,640) and most 100-yard receiving games in a season (nine). He also became just the second Husky to reach 1,000 yards in multiple seasons.
 
Voting closes on January 22. Winners will be announced during the awards show, which will be held at The Westin Seattle on February 15, 2024 at 5:30pm.
 
Past Seattle Sports Star Award recipients:

• Gabbie Plain, Sports Star of the Year, Women’s Sports (2022)
• Sis Bates, Sports Star of the Year, Women’s Sports (2019)
• Ali Aguilar, Sports Star of the Year, Women’s Sports (2018)
• Dante Pettis, Sports Star of the Year, Men’s Sports (2018)
• Kelsey Plum, Sports…