MEAC names Figueroa 2020 woman of the year

Published June 30, 2020

Special to the Outlook

NORFOLK, Va. – The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has named Alelee Figueroa of the Florida A&M track team as the 2020 Woman of the Year, the conference office.

She becomes the first FAMU athlete to win the award.

The award, selected annually by the MEAC Senior Woman Administrators, celebrates the achievements of senior female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics, service and leadership. The MEAC made the announcement last Tuesday.

“Congratulations to Alelee Figueroa for having a spectacular career, not only in track & field, but in her academic pursuits as well,” MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said. “In addition, her service to the community is truly exceptional. I would like to thank the Florida A&M University athletic staff, coaches, academic support personnel and Alelee’s family, who all had an influential part in her success. I wish her continued success in her future endeavors.”

Figueroa, from Orlando, Fla., won the MEAC championship in the hammer throw at the 2019 MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (50.42 meters; 165 feet, five inches), and she also won that event this past indoor season at the KMS Invitational. She was part of a Rattlers squad that won the 2018 MEAC women’s outdoor track & field championship, edging North Carolina A&T State by half a point.

Alelee Figueroa won the MEAC championship in the hammer throw at the 2019 MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Photo courtesy FAMU athletics

Graduating this past May with a 3.90 GPA in Criminal Justice (concentration in Pre-Law Studies), Figueroa had the highest GPA in both the MS3 and MS4 classes of the Florida A&M Army ROTC Rattler Battalion. She was a Distinguished Scholar award winner in 2016, and Figueroa was named both a National Society of Collegiate Scholars inductee and a Nutrition LEADS Scholar in 2017.

In 2019, Figueroa was an IFPO Protection Officer Certification Award winner from the International Organization of Black Security Executives (IOBSE) and a recipient of the FAMU Army ROTC Rattler Battalion’s Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Award.

In addition to serving in the Army ROTC Rattler Battalion all four years, Figueroa was busy in the community. In 2017, she volunteered at the Wakulla County Community Center, tending to the community garden, cleaning and preparing harvested fruits and vegetables and promoting nutrition at community events. From 2018-20, she was a volunteer lead and pageant candidate with the Big Bend Filipino-American Association; not only did she coordinate all community outreach events and fundraise for the Bantay Bata charity, she also represented Tallahassee in the annual national pageant.

Figueroa was an S-2 Expansion and security officer for the National Society of Pershing Angels Sorority, Inc. in 2019, managing security clearance issues and providing both intelligence oversight and physical security. She was an S-3 Operations and Training Officer this year, on top of serving as Vice President of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International, FAMU Pre-Law Chapter (which she helped re-charter), and HBCU for Life Committee Co-Chair for the Beta Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Figueroa will represent the MEAC as its nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. The NCAA established this award in 1991 to celebrate the achievements of women in intercollegiate athletics. Now in its 29th year, the award is unique because it recognizes not only the athletic achievements of outstanding young women, but also their academic achievements, community service and leadership.

The NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced on Nov. 1 at the awards dinner in Indianapolis, Ind.

Delaware State’s Alexis Neuer (bowling) was the 2020 MEAC Woman of the Year runner-up. She graduated with a degree in physics and electrical engineering with a 3.97 GPA.

MEAC Woman of the Year Honorees:

2006 — Renecia Lovelace, North Carolina A&T State (Softball)

2007 — Courtney Smiley, Howard (Basketball)

2008 — Jessica Worsley, Maryland Eastern Shore (Bowling)

2009 — Loreal Smith, North Carolina A&T State (Track and Field)

2010 — Kalyn Washburn, Delaware State (Bowling)

2011 — Kristina Frahm, Maryland Eastern Shore (Bowling)

2012 — Jazmyne Hefflefinger, Delaware State (Bowling)

2013 — T’nia Falbo, Maryland Eastern Shore (Bowling)

2014 — Christina Epps, Coppin State (Track and Field)

2015 — Mariana Alvarado Nava, UMES (Bowling)

2016 — Jenny Tracy, North Carolina Central (Softball)