Martha Bissah Named Female Athlete of The Year at US College

Youth Olympics gold medalist Martha Bissah, has been named the Female Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row at her Virginia school, Norfolk State University.

The 20-year-old became the first student there to win the US’ Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) women’s cross country individual title since 2001, when she set a new championship record time of 17 minutes, 16 seconds in October.

Bissah then won the MEAC Indoor Most Outstanding Women’s Runner award for the second straight year after winning four gold medals at the conference indoor meet in February, sweeping the 800, 1,500 and 3,000-meter races, and winning gold as part of the school’s first-place distance medley relay team.

Bissah is also currently ranked 10th in the NCAA East Region in the 800 meters as she seeks her second straight outdoor regional track berth.

She is the first back-to-back winner of NSU’s Female Athlete of the Year award since bowler Thea Aspiras in 2011-12.

She was a student of the Aduman Senior High School in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

In 2014, the world took notice of her when she won a gold medal in the Girls’ 800-meter race at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.