NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Putting an exclamation point on one of the finest careers in Christopher Newport Athletics history, senior women's soccer star Riley Cook has been named the 2021-22 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Year. The conference office announced the annual award selections on Thursday, honoring Cook after she helped lead Christopher Newport to the program's first-ever national championship this Fall. 

With the honor, Cook joins Briana Sutton (2016) and Gabby Gillis (2019) as the third Captain in school history to secure Athlete of the Year recognition. Alongside her pick on Thursday, Max Wayne was also named the Male Athlete of the Year, giving CNU five total selections since the award started in 2016 with Jeff Dover (2018) rounding out the group. The C2C also announced the 2021-22 Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year giving CNU a clean sweep this year as Dylan Rice and Adrianna DeSantis earned the honors for the Captains. 

The Conference Athlete of the Year award is presented by the conference office and chosen in a vote by the league's athletic directors. 

A magical run through the final season for one of Christopher Newport's all-time great players culminated in historic performances individually and as a team. The most decorated player in program history added to her unfathomable list of individual accolades with a record-breaking senior season. She was named the 2021 National Player of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches and was selected the D3soccer.com National Midfielder of the Year. Cook became the first student-athlete in CNU history in all sports, men's or women's, to earn first team All-American honors three or more times in her career and added first team All-Region, All-Conference, and All-State to her ledger. 

Additionally, Cook was named the Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the third time and went on to earn a selection as the NCAA Championship's Most Outstanding Offensive Player following an incredible run through the postseason. She carried the Captains' offense throughout the year, but elevated her game during the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first Division III soccer player to score a goal in all six postseason games. 

Following her outstanding season, Cook was named by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards as one of 11 finalists for the Division III Athlete of the Year presented by Honda. The Mechanicsville, Va. native averaged over 70 minutes played in the Captains' dangerous midfield. She eclipsed 50 points in a season for the third time in her career by posting 24 goals and five assists in her final run for a 53-point campaign. Cook posted arguably the greatest performance in Division III NCAA Tournament as she scored the game-winning goal in five of six games and added an assist on the final winner on route to the Division III title. 

Led by Cook, the Captains ranked in the top-25 nationally in total goals and point scored in 2021. Christopher Newport led the nation in winning percentage with an undefeated roll through the 2021 campaign, finishing 22-0-1 with 16 shutouts during the year. 

Ranking third nationally in total goals in 2021, Cook only added to her unfathomable career scoring record in 2021 after setting the mark as a junior in 2019. During her tenure, the all-time leader scored a ludicrous 198 points on 90 career goals and 18 assists. She recorded two hat tricks, giving her a record seven in her career, and also logged a pair of the longest goal-scoring streaks in program history. During the regular season, Cook scored in eight straight games before her unconscionable six-game scoring streak against the toughest competition of the year with a goal in every single NCAA Tournament contest. 

Cook set and re-set nearly every standard in the CNU record book by every measure. She is the all-time leader in goals and points scored in a game, single season, and career at Christopher Newport. Three of her four seasons rank as the top-three individual campaigns in program lore, and the fourth, her freshman year, ranked as a top-ten season before her own records knocked it out. 

The dangerous scorer completed her tenure as the NCAA active leader in points scored and her 90 career goals are the most by an active player by a margin of seven. She shattered the conference scoring record by 27 career goals and wrapped her distinguished career with 11 NCAA Tournament goals and one assists for 23 career postseason points.

With Cook holding down a starting spot throughout her career, the nationally-ranked Captains have registered an overall record of 78-6-5 for a winning percentage of 90.4 percent. CNU won three conference titles and reached the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons of Cook's career, finishing in the second round twice, the national semifinals once, and finishing with this year's national championship.