Head Coach Robert Olesen Named USTFCCCA Southeast Coach of the Year
March 10, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - After leading the Charlotte 49ers to the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship title, head coach Robert Olesen was named the USTFCCCA Division I Southeast Men's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, officials announced Monday. Olesen, who was named the 2008 A-10 Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's sides, joined eight other regional coaches across the country in receiving the honor.
Charlotte surged past defending champion Rhode Island at the A-10 Indoor Championships last month, tallying 91 points en route to its second league title in three years. Leading the way was senior sprinter Jason Moore, who claimed gold in two events by winning the 55-meter and 200-meter dashes. Also notching two first-place finishes was junior Chase Eckard, who won the mile and the 800-meter run.
Olesen is midway through his ninth year with the 49ers track and field program and his sixth at the helm, serving as the driving force behind the development of well-balanced track and field and cross country teams that are highly competitive at the conference level while also advancing student-athletes to the highest levels of competition in the nation. Since he joined the program, Charlotte won its first indoor track and field league titles and has recently taken three consecutive women's indoor Atlantic 10 titles (2006-08), while also tallying an average of just under 20 all-conference award winners each year. Nine All-Americans from three different event areas (sprints, jumps and distance), notably including four-time honoree and national indoor champion Shareese Woods, have been named during his tenure, while nearly 30 track competitors from the program have reached the NCAA Championships.
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The 49ers, awaiting the announcement of the NCAA Indoor Championship field this evening, will return to regular season action with the 49er Invitational at the Irwin Belk Track and Field Complex March 20-22.
