Zaya Akins

Career Honors and Recognition
2024 NCAA Indoor Champion (4x400m)
2024 Outdoor First Team All-American (2x)
2024 Indoor First Team All-American
2024 Indoor First Team All-SEC
2024 Outdoor Second Team All-SEC
2024 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll

Season and Career Results
2024
Indoor
Appeared in seven indoor meets during her freshman indoor season, running the 200m, 300m, 400m and the 4x400m relay … Was the leadoff leg for the women’s 4x400m relay that won the NCAA Indoor Championship with a time of 3:26.20, earning First Team All-American honors with the program’s first 4x400m national championship since 2019 … Was also the leadoff leg for the relay team at the SEC Indoor Championship, running a program record time of 3:26.05 for the gold medal, the first indoor SEC 4x400m championship since 2009 … Earned First Team All-SEC honors for winning the 4x400m relay … Also ran the 400m at the SEC Championship, finishing 13^th in the preliminary round after running 52.78 … Made her collegiate debut in the 300m event at the Clemson Opener, finishing runner-up with the second fastest time in program history at 36.77 … Finished fourth in her home debut in the 200m when she ran 23.71 … Won back-to-back 4x400m relays at the Clemson Opener and the Gamecock Opener … Had a memorable meet at the Tiger Paw Invite with a new PR in both the 200m and the 400m – running 23.31 in the 200m to rank 10^th all time and then 52.23 in the 400m which ranks ninth all time in program history.

Outdoor
Competed in 10 meets during the outdoor season, running the 100m, 200m, 400m and both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays … Earned a pair of First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championship in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays … Was the third leg in the 4x100m in Eugene that ran 42.63 to finish third and followed that up as the leadoff leg in the fastest 4x400m relay in program history, running 3:24.86 for a 6^th place finish … Competed in the 400m semifinals at the NCAA Championship, running 52.36 … Made her way to the NCAA Championship after finishing fifth at the NCAA East Regional in the 400m with a new personal best time of 51.33, ranking 10^th all-time in program history … At the regional meet, she also helped guide the 4x100m relay team to a victory with the fastest time in program history, stopping the clock at 42.46, while leading the 4x400m relay team to a third-place finish … Earned Second Team All-SEC honors with a runner-up finish in the 4x400m relay, clocking 3:25.02 … Finished 12^th individually in the 400m at the SEC Championship, turning in a time of 51.98 … The 400m specialist made her outdoor collegiate debut in the 200m at the Shamrock Invitational, running a wind-aided personal best time of 23.15 for the win … The following week, she made her home debut at the Weems Baskin Invitational in the 100m, finishing runner-up with a time of personal best time of 11.26 for the 10^th fastest outdoor 100m in Gamecock history … The following week, she clocked a wind-legal PR in the 200m at the Florida Relays with a time of 23.30 … Won the Charlotte Invitational 400m for her first 400m win during the outdoor season, running 51.83 … Won a total of seven relay events throughout the spring season.

Pre- South Carolina
High School
Earned four track & field letters and two volleyball letters at Raytown South High School in Kansas City, Mo. … Competed in the 100m, 200m and the 400m with the Cardinals … Holds the school record in the 100m (11.32), 200m (23.16) and the 400m (52.83) … Also holds the state record in the Class 4 400m (53.41) and the Class 5 400m (53.08) … Holds high school national records in the Nike Indoor 400m (53.26) and the New Balance Indoor 400m (53.45) … Earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Missouri in both 2022 and 2023 … ESPY Award in 2022 for Missouri Female Athlete of the Year … Named 2022 & 2023 Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine Center Female Performer of the Year … Had a successful run with her club team (Sprinters Elite and Palestine) winning the indoor (2023) and outdoor (2022) NBN 400m championship … Earned Nike Indoor 400m Championship honors and also was an AAU National Champion in both the 100m and the 400m … USA U20 National Runner-Up in the 2022 400m sprint … Finished 13^th in the World 400m at the 2022 U20 World Championships … Also captured the 4x400m relay title at the 2022 U20 Championship … Great South West Champion in the 100m, 200m, 400m and the 4x100m relay in 2022 … Holds the meet record at the KU Relays in the 400m, running 53.56 … Fastest in Missouri history and is an eight-time state champion.

Personal
Daughter of Elisha and Mikki Akins, born on August 30, 2005 … Has one sibling, Zaria … Father, Elisha, ran track & field and played basketball at Ohio University … Mother, Mikki, competed in volleyball, track & field and cheer at Ohio … Plans to major in Civil Engineering and hopes to either be a professional athlete or move into an engineering/architect career … Originally committed to Kentucky, but followed Coach Tim Hall to Carolina … Also received offers from Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Ohio State, Miami, Kansas, UCLA, Wisconsin, Minnesota and LSU.

Personal Records

Indoor

Outdoor