HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Seven members of the Houghton outdoor track & field program have earned Empire 8 All-Conference honors following the spring season.

Highlighting the honors was Alexa Belanger, who was named the E8 Women's Rookie of the Year.

The awards are based on the finish place at the 2025 Empire 8 Outdoor Track & Field Championships which were held in May.

Belanger was one of six Highlanders to earn First Team honors. The freshman, who was also named the 2024-25 E8 Indoor Rookie of the Year, earned NCAA First Team All-American honors for the Highlanders, finishing eighth in the high jump at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She cleared a season-best 1.71 meters in the high jump to win E8 Championship and qualify for the NCAA Championships. Belanger was also the runner-up in the event at the All-Atlantic Region Championships. Belanger is Houghton's third E8 Outdoor Track and Field Rookie of the Year in program history.

Victoria Brewster captured the conference title in the 100 meters with a run of 11.99 to earn First Team recognition. Brewster also claimed Third Team honors with a 25.32 finish in the 200 meters.

On the men's side, Evan Kurtz was named Second Team All-Conference with a second place finish of 11.01 in the 100 meters.

First Team honors also went to the 4x800 relay team of Amos Bixler, James Eustace, Henry Sardina and Aidan Fish. The quartet won the event in a time of 7:56.56.

In addition, Brewster and Ben Allen were Houghton's selections to the Empire 8 Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year Teams, respectively. 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.