Szabo Colorado female collegiate athlete of the year

More accolades for the Western track and field standout

Some of the biggest names in Colorado sports gathered Thursday night in Denver at the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Banquet. Along with six inductees and six other athletes of the year, Western State Colorado University’s Barbara Szabo (Sr., Budapest, Hungary) was honored as the 2013 College Female Athlete of the Year.


Szabo was honored as an athlete of the year along with Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, world-champion skier Mikaela Shiffrin, collegiate standout Kapri Bibbs of Colorado State University, high school honorees Christian McCaffery of Valor Christian and Elise Cranny of Niwot. Cody Field with Special Olympics Colorado was the 2013 recipient of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame’s Disabled Athlete Recognition Award.
Szabo was recognized for her accomplishments during 2013, which included two women’s high jump national championships. During the 2013 year, Szabo became a four-time national champion, five-time All-American and seven-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion.
On March 9, 2013 Szabo earned her third consecutive NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship title in the women’s high jump. Szabo became just the eighth women’s athlete to win an indoor national title three consecutive years in any event. Szabo’s winning mark came at 1.85 meters (6’ 0.75”). 
 
Szabo duplicated her success at the indoor championships by earning her first outdoor high jump national title at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 25 in Pueblo, Colo. She cleared 1.87 meters (6’ 1.5”), earning her fourth career individual national championship and set a new facility record at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.


During 2012-13, Szabo broke the Western State Colorado University school record in the high jump on February 9 at the Colorado School of Mines Twilight Collegiate Open, clearing the bar at 1.92 meters (6’ 3.5”). 1.92 meters was the second highest mark in all collegiate divisions last season and was the third highest ever in Division II. With her 1.92 meter jump, Szabo was ranked eighth in the world by the IAAF and competed at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia over the summer.


Szabo earned conference titles in the indoor women’s high jump, indoor triple jump and outdoor high jump. She was an all-conference performer in the indoor women’s high jump, indoor triple jump, outdoor high jump, outdoor long jump, outdoor triple jump and outdoor javelin throw.


 On March 19, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Szabo the women’s NCAA Division II Indoor National Field Athlete of the Year and on March 3, she was named the RMAC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. 

Since March 6, Szabo has been receiving votes on the “Bowerman Watch List,” for the most outstanding female collegiate track and field athletes in the nation. Szabo is the only Division II athlete to appear on the list in 2014.
 
She also became the first-ever RMAC student-athlete to win the Athlete of the Month award four times.