The best of the best.
That was the unofficial tag line to the 2016 Honda Cup award winners, presented by the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards organization. It's a sentence that perfectly fits Emily Oren, and it's a description she more than lived up to throughout her unprecedented four-year career with the Hillsdale College cross country and track programs.
The two-day CWSA Honda Awards event was held in Los Angeles June 26-27. During those two days, Oren mingled among a group that can only be described as women's athletics royalty. There were Olympic champions. Hall of famers. Multi-time national champions everywhere one looked. And there was Emily Oren, from Hillsdale College, being counted among star athletes from Michigan, USC, Connecticut, Florida and Duke among others.
Oren was chosen as the Division II recipient of the Honda Cup Award, the most prestigious award available to any female college athlete nationwide. Sydney Moss, the daughter of former All-Pro NFL wide receiver Randy Moss, was the Division III winner of the award, while UConn All-American Breanna Stewart was the Division I recipient.
"There are so many amazing women here; it's an honor to be chosen to be among them in the class of 2016," Oren said. "The idea of being considered among the women here is such a huge honor. I'm completely honored to be here."
This year happened to mark the 40th anniversary of the Honda Award, and therefore, was a reason to invite back many past winners of the Honda Cup. This list includes some of the best female athletes to ever compete in any sport. Names like Mia Hamm, Misty May, Maya Moore, Jackie Joyner, Courtney Kupets and Ann Myers-Drysdale are just a few who have won the Division I version of the Honda Cup. More than a dozen former winners of the Cup returned to Southern California for the 2016 event.
"Emily Oren personifies a Hillsdale College student-athlete," Chargers head track coach Andrew Towne said. "What separates her is her drive. She was truly committed to excellence throughout her career at Hillsdale and that is why many consider her to be the greatest female distance runner in Division II history. We couldn't be more proud of her."
One former Division II winner of the Honda Cup was in attendance, and is a name familiar to Hillsdale fans. Former Ashland women's basketball All-American Kari Daugherty was on hand, and enjoyed her conversations with fellow GLIAC alumnae Oren. Daugherty was the Division II award winner in 2013 and 2014.
Sunday's welcome reception kicked off the official festivities. Oren mingled with past winners and dignitaries from the CWSA in the Watercourt Ballroom inside the Omni Hotel. Baby chicken sandwiches – on a toothpick – were part of the menu, as old friends shared hugs and memories, and new friendships were formed, as the class of 2016 was welcomed into the elite group of Honda Cup winners.
Oren's busy schedule continued into Monday morning, when she was joined by the Division I Honda Cup nominees by participating in a community outreach program at the Orthopedic Institute for Children in Los Angeles. While there, Oren answered questions and signed autographs from patients at the hospital.
From there, it was back to the Omni and a luncheon emceed by former Olympic gold medalist and 1991-92 Honda Cup recipient Summer Sanders. Guests received gift bags, while Oren was proud of the Tiffany necklace she received as being the Division II Honda Cup winner.
Shortly after the luncheon was completed, Oren and the other winners were whisked off to the Galen Center on the campus of USC, for a three-hour rehearsal for the live broadcast of the Honda Cup Awards show, to be seen on CBS Sports Network.
Flanked by her parents Jim and Dawn and sister Molly, sporting a black dress, Oren was seated in the front row of the small studio inside the building that the USC volleyball and basketball teams call home. The lights were bright. There was a 60-inch flatscreen in the back of the studio, serving as the teleprompter. A small stage was built with glistening silver trophies set atop black pillars. A floor producer directed the participants and the crowd, making sure everyone was in sync with the live broadcast.
Oren was the second guest called up to the stage by host Jamie Erdahl. With cameras humming, Oren spoke of how she was drawn to Hillsdale because of head coach Andrew Towne's commitment to excellence, and how he framed excellence as a daily process. Oren understood that in order for her to reach her full potential, that was the kind of program she wanted to be a part of. Seven individual national championships, and five top-three NCAA finishes as a team is proof enough that the process worked for Oren.
The show wrapped, and ice cream was shared among the best of the best before they would all go their separate ways.
Oren has remained at Hillsdale after her graduation last month, working in the school's admissions office. But her flight back to Michigan wasn't a direct one from Los Angeles. After accepting her award, she was back on a plane to Eugene, Oregon, to participate in the 2016 Olympic Trials in her specialty event, the 3000 meter steeplechase.
As Oren's track journey continues, she can look back on her two days in Los Angeles with fondness, realizing the incredible weight of the award she earned. An award that was earned by more than just crossing the finish line first at NCAAs. It was earned by those isolated workouts around Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium. Doing sprints when no one was watching. It came on the endless road runs under the unforgiving sun and thick humidity of Michigan's summers. It was completely buying into coach Andrew Towne's philosophy of excellence being a process, and carrying that out on a daily basis. "Excellence is not a destination, but a journey," Towne is fond of saying. Oren now symbolizes that.
Emily Oren's name is now a permanent part of national women's sports history with her Honda Cup award. She helped put Hillsdale College track on the map, and allowed the institution to stand tall among the most well-known universities in the country. The 2015-16 athletic year will always be associated with the excellence, championships and achievements of Emily Oren.
The best of the best.