HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Houghton indoor track and field student-athletes Amanda Burrichter and Malcolm Smith have been honored by the Empire 8 Conference for their performances during the 2021-22 indoor track and field season.

Burrichter was named the E8 Women's Indoor Track and Field Track Athlete of the Year, while Smith earned E8 Co-Rookie of the Year on the men's side.

Last month, Burrichter earned 2022 Empire 8 Indoor Track Athlete of the Championship Meet honors after sweeping the mile and 3,000-meter run championships for the second straight season. Burrichter won the mile in a personal-best time of 5:19.97 and took the 3,000-meters in 10:28.15. In addition, Burrichter was part of Houghton's distance medley relay team that placed second overall and recorded a personal best time of 10:23.19 in the 3,000-meters at Boston University.

Smith was among the top sprinters in the conference. He won the E8 title in the 200-meters with a time of 22.65 seconds and was part of Houghton's 4 x 400-meter relay team won the league championship in a time of 3:29.59. Smith had top times of 7.24 seconds in the 60-meters and 22.58 seconds in the 200-meters. Smith set Houghton records in the 60, 200 and 300 during the season.

These are the first E8 individual indoor track and field honors for Houghton student-athletes since joining the conference.

In addition, Brennan Lewandowski and Maria Rodriguez were Houghton's selections to the Empire 8 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year teams, respectively. One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the teams. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen and sportsmen.