GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman's Tessa Walter has been voted the Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Female Freshman of the Year, as announced Wednesday by the league office.
A native of Colorado Springs, Colo., Walter led Furman over the weekend at the 2026 SoCon Indoor Track & Field Championships at VMI's Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, Va. The Paladin women's team won four events and registered 94 total points for a fourth-place performance.
Walter won titles in both the 3,000m and 5,000m to score 20 points at the league championship meet, earning SoCon All-Freshman team honors in both events. After winning the 3,000m with a time of 9:44.20 on Friday, she posted a time of 16:37.92 to take gold in the women's 5,000m on Saturday, giving the Paladins their tenth-straight victory in the event.
Walter, who was honored as the league's cross country freshman of the year and runner of the year in the fall, becomes the sixth Furman runner to be selected SoCon Indoor Track and Field Female Freshman of the Year, joining Heather VandeBrake (1993), Savannah Carnahan (2017), Krissy Gear (2018), Sierra Bower (2022), and Jenna Mulhern (2023).
