Ridgnal, Suied nominated for Junior College Athlete of the Year awards

Cowley College 2021 Male and Female Athletes of the Year, Dalen Ridgnal and Lubna Suied, are among the finalists for the Junior College Male and Female Athletes of the Year at the 23rd Annual Greater Wichita Awards Ceremony which will be held Thursday, July 1 at the Downtown Drury Plaza-Broadview in Wichita, KS.

A reception and silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the banquet will follow at 7. Former Kansas City Chief return specialist Dante Hall, who holds seven franchise records, will be the featured speaker.

Ridgnal was named this past season's Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player. He was also named a First Team All-Conference and All-Region selection for the second straight year. The 6-foot-seven forward was recently named just the third, two-time All-American in the history of the Tiger men's basketball program.

Ridgnal, who signed to continue his playing career at the University of Georgia, led Cowley in scoring (21.1) and rebounds (12.8) per game as he finished his career as the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the program.

He helped Cowley to a record of 50-11 during his two years at the school. With Ridgnal leading the way, the Tigers captured back-to-back conference titles, qualified for back-to-back national tournament appearances, won a region title for the first time in 64 years and finished as the 2020-2021 national runner-up.

Sophomore Lubna Suied, who finished as the women's cross country program's first-ever individual national champion, helped the Lady Tigers win its first national championship in 10 years. The win capped an amazing season for Suied as she placed first in five of six races on the season.

She continued her success during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. She earned All-American honors in three events at the NJCAA National Indoor Championships and broke the school record in the 5,000-meter run during the outdoor season.

She was named the top point getter in the women's indoor Jayhawk Conference Championships as she was the conference and region champion in the 3,000-meter run and mile run, and was also the conference champion in the 5,000-meter run.

She went on to receive All-American honors in the 1,500-meter run, 5,000-meter run, and 10,000-meter run at the NJCAA National Outdoor Championships and has signed to continue running at Wichita State University.