ST. JOSEPH-Allison Kosobud had a senior season that every collegiate student-athlete dreams of.
In her final season with the College of Saint Benedict cross country team, the Brainerd High School graduate ran personal bests in the 5K and 6K races, and earned All-MIAC and All-Central Region honors.
During the track and field season, Kosobud won a pair of conference titles, all-region honors and qualified for the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships and earned All-American honors at the national indoor championships.
She also earned Academic All-MIAC honors in all three sports as well as a spot on the prestigious CoSIDA Academic All-America team.
Now, Kosobud has one more accolade to add to her growing resume. This week, it was announced that Kosobud received the MIAC's 2017 nomination for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
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The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership. Kosobud, who has made an impact for CSB's cross country and track and field teams while also maintaining an impressive GPA since her first season, was selected from a pool of candidates by the MIAC's Senior Woman Administrators and Management Committee.
Balancing three sports and being in season all year long with academics and school projects, as well as studying abroad and spending time with her mentee through Big Brothers Big Sisters, could take its toll on a student-athlete. Instead, Kosobud, an Integrative Health Science major, wrote in her personal statement in the NCAA Woman of the Year nomination process that not having to choose to focus on one of the three aspects of her life is what helped to make her successful.
"Balance is important as a runner. I believe this idea of balance is necessary in life, too, and Saint Benedict has allowed me to achieve just that," Kosobud said in a news release. "This school has taken me as I am, and developed me as a whole person. I have grown in confidence as I learned to lead discussions in the classroom, and I have learned the importance of commitment as I ran laps and laps around the track.
"I did not have to partition off parts of my life in order to participate in everything I wanted to do, and I did not feel limited in my options because of being in sports. Rather, I had even more opportunities as a result."
Kosobud showed off her potential in her first season at CSB. After finishing in the top 35 to wrap up her first cross country season at CSB, she won the 800- and 1,000-meter runs at the 2014 MIAC Indoor Championships and set school records in the 800, 1,000 and mile. That indoor season, she took 12th with the distance medley relay team and took 14th in the 800 at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
During her first outdoor track and field season at CSB, Kosobud finished 19th in the 800 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and set the school record in the 800 that season. Following her first season, she was named the 2013 CSB Rookie of the Year by coaches and athletic staff.
Kosobud missed her sophomore cross country season due to injury, but came back in time for track and field season and earned All-MIAC honors in the 800 during the indoor season and was part of CSB's 3,200-meter relay team that won the MIAC title at the outdoor championships. Kosobud also missed cross country her junior year as she studied in Greece and Rome, but she came back and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1,500-meter run, where she finished 17th. That outdoor season she broke her own school record in the 800, and also set the school record in the 1,500.
Once her senior cross country season started, it was clear that Kosobud had saved the best for last. She earned All-MIAC cross country honors for the first time after taking 10th at the conference meet, and later took 28th at the NCAA Central Region meet to earn All-Region accolades. She finished in the top 30 at all seven meets she competed in and ran the seventh-best 5K and 6K time in CSB history over the course of the season.
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Kosobud's track season was even better. She won the MIAC 1,000-meter title at the indoor championships and took second in the 800. She qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800, and took fifth to earn All-American honors for the first time.
During the outdoor season, Kosobud won the MIAC 800-meter title, and set the school record for the third time. She wrapped up her career with a 12th-place finish in the 800 at the outdoor national championships.
She finished her career a four-time MIAC title winner, five-time national qualifier, nine-time All-MIAC athlete and six-time All-Region honoree. She holds seven CSB track and field records.
As well as excelling on the track, Kosobud also had a stellar collegiate career in the classroom. She became the first CSB track and field athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 1996 for maintaining a 3.90 GPA this season. She was a Trustee Scholar, which indicates the highest merit scholarship a student can receive at CSB, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 2017.
Kosobud was a member of the Dean's List all eight semesters of her college career, and earned USTFCCCA academic honors each of her four years with both the cross country and track and field teams. She also earned Academic All-MIAC honors in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track and field all three seasons she was eligible.
As if setting school records and maintaining a 3.90 GPA wasn't enough, Kosobud also found time to volunteer. She served as a mentor for a young child in St. Cloud through Big Brothers Big Sisters for four years and was the director of the Dream Team, a sleep advocacy group on campus. She served as president of the Honors Planning and Advisory Council at CSB-SJU, was a member of CSB's SAAC, volunteered at the Boy's and Girl's Club and NICU Sanford, among others.
The top 30 NCAA Woman of the Year honorees will be honored Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
