Abria Smith, graduate student in Special Education, was named Female Newcomer of the Year by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics at Illinois.
Smith was the national runner-up in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the Big Ten Outdoor shot put champion. She set the program record distance of 18.92 meters.
Introduced in 2023, the Illinois Newcomer of the Year Award is given to the best-performing male and female non-freshman student-athletes in their first year of competition at Illinois. Smith is in her first year competing at Illinois after spending her undergraduate career at Hampton.
Smith is a graduate assistant at the Illinois Center for Transition and Work.
