Ole Miss women’s track and field All-American junior Akaoma Odeluga has been named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Outdoor Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, according to a May 12 announcement from the conference office.
This recognition makes Odeluga only the third woman in Ole Miss track and field and cross country history to earn this award. She joins teammate Loral Winn, who received the honor during the 2023 cross country season, and Olympian McKenzie Long, who won it indoors in 2024. Across both men’s and women’s programs at Ole Miss, Odeluga is now the seventh Rebel all-time to receive this distinction. Previous men’s recipients include Lee Ellis Moore (2011 indoor), Craig Engels (2017 outdoor), Mario Garcia Romo (2022 indoor), and Aiden Britt (2022 cross country).
Odeluga is having a standout season, currently leading the SEC and ranking second nationally with a career-best shot put throw of 19.23 meters achieved last month at the Virginia Challenge. This performance ranks her seventh-best in outdoor collegiate history, ninth overall when including both indoor and outdoor records, and nineteenth in U.S. history for women’s shot put. On this year’s world list, her mark stands fourth outdoors and eighth overall; it is also second on the U.S. absolute list.
In addition to her achievements in shot put, Odeluga holds fourth place in the SEC for hammer throw with a season-best distance of 64.92 meters—placing her eighteenth nationally in that event as well. She is one of only two women in collegiate history to surpass both 63 feet in shot put and 210 feet in hammer throw.
Academically, Odeluga maintains a grade point average of 3.94 while majoring in political science. She has twice been recognized as an All-Academic honoree by USTFCCCA and was named to the CSC Academic All-District team for 2025.
Ole Miss track & field will begin its outdoor postseason competition this week at Auburn University during the SEC Outdoor Championships scheduled for May 14-16.
