After winning three conference titles and earning her first All-America honor, Colorado College recent graduate Allison Barker was named the Women's Track Athlete of the Year for the 2026 season by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC).
 
Barker, from Bethesda, Md., became Colorado College's ninth female track athlete to earn All-America honors with an 11th-place finish in the 1,500-meter final at the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She finished the race with a school-record time of 4:26.77.
 
At the 2026 SCAC Track and Field Championships, Barker captured a pair of individual titles, the 800 and 1500, becoming the first runner to capture both races at the SCAC meet since 2019. She then joined Thalia Goessling, Clara Kirr and Clara Lippert on the meet-closing victorious 4x400 relay with a time of 3:57.73.
 
"Allison had a breakout senior year and is very deserving of this award," head coach Katie Bretscher said. "She was a conference champion in every event that she contested at the SCAC meet and displayed versatility as a runner throughout the season by being able to run the 400M-1500M at a competitive level. It was great to see her cap her career at the national meet running her fastest time of the season."  
 
Barker is the third Colorado College female to earn the SCAC Track Athlete of the Year honor, joining Kendall Accetta (2022 and '24) and Katie Sandfort (2017).