Centre College Athletics

Our third honoree is Amanda McCracken, Centre graduating class of 2000. Amanda lettered four years for Centre in cross country and three in track & field. In 2000 as a senior, Amanda was the recipient of the Kentucky NCAA Woman of the Year award for her athletic and academic excellence, leadership and community service. Like Mark Green, Amanda also won the Briscoe Inman Memorial Award as the senior student-athlete with the highest four-year GPA. She was an All-SCAC and All-Region cross country runner and also earned All-SCAC honors in the 800m. At the time of her graduation, Amanda held school records in the 3000m, the 4x400m and distance relays. 

What Amanda has done since her time at Centre is even more remarkable. She earned her Master’s degree in linguistics from Indiana State University and is a certified massage therapist, but the running bug has never left her. Amanda has completed over 30 triathlons, eight marathons, and too many road and mountain trail races to count. She has swam to shore from Alcatraz Island twice, finishing second in the aquathlon in 2010 and winning it the following year. In 2013, Amanda began training blind athletes, guiding a blind triathlete to a gold medal in the 2013 Paralympics in London. She has also helped guide a blind runner to race in the 2017 Chicago Marathon. Her writing on running and triathlon has been featured on ESPN and Active.com, as well in Triathlete, Runner’s World, Outside, AARP, and Women’s Running magazines.