March 10, 2008
View Division I Men's Indoor Regional Award Winners
Riley, Kraft among Women's Division I Regional Honorees 2008 Indoor Season
NEW ORLEANS - Brittany Riley, Sally Kipyego and Greg Kraft added to their growing list of awards when the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association included them among the regional honorees for the 2008 NCAA Division I indoor season.
Riley, the defending NCAA champion in the 20-pound weight throw from Southern Illinois, was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Year for the Midwest Region. Riley is favored to win her specialty at this weekend's NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
Kraft is the West Region Coach of the Year after guiding the defending NCAA champion Sun Devils to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title. Arizona State won NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in 2007.
Texas Tech's Kipyego, the defending NCAA indoor champion in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, is the Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year.
In each of the nine regions, the USTFCCCA selects the top men's and women's track athlete, field athlete, head coach and assistant coach.
Mid-Atlantic Region
Women's Track: Shana Cox, Penn State
Cox won three events at the Big Ten Conference meet, anchoring the Nittany Lions to victory in the 4 x 400 relay after racing to victory in the 200 and 400 meters. She enters the NCAA Indoor Championships with a 2008 best in the 400 of 52.57 seconds. Cox, a senior from Westbury, N.Y., finished second in the 400 at last year's NCAA outdoor meet.
Women's Field: Gayle Hunter, Penn State
Gayle Hunter was once again one of Penn State's top point scorers at the Big Ten Championships, recording third-place finishes in the long jump, triple jump, and pentathlon. This season, Hunter posted an automatic-qualifying and Penn State record 4073 in the pentathlon, and was the first athlete in the country in 2008 to hit the auto standard back on Jan. 25. Thanks to her automatic performance, Hunter, an All-American in the heptathlon in 2007, will be making her fifth-career appearance at the NCAA Championships. Hunter, also a provisional qualifier in the triple jump, won Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year during the 2007 indoor season.
Women's Coach: Pete Farrell, Princeton
Princeton won its first Ivy League Heptaganol title since 1998, scoring 114 points to edge Brown by seven points. The Tigers moved into the scoring lead with a win in the 4 x 800 relay and held on for the championship when freshman Tiffany Liu placed second in the triple jump. Farrell has been Princeton's only coach since the women's program moved up from club to varsity status in 1978.
Women's Assistant: Chris Johnson, Penn State
As the Penn State coach in charge of the sprints, hurdles and relays, Johnson's athletes played a key role in the Nittany Lions' third-place finish in the Big Ten Conference indoor meet. Shana Cox ranks among the national leaders in the 400 meters, as does Penn State's 4 x 400 relay team. Johnson is in his fourth season at Penn State.
West Region
Women's Track: Arianna Lambie, Stanford
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion has the nation's fastest time in the 3,000 meters (9:05.32) heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships. A 12-time All-American in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, Lambie also qualified for the NCAA meet in the mile. She is a senior from Harvard, Mass.
Women's Field: Jacquelyn Johnson, Arizona State
With a best of 4,312 points, Johnson has nearly a lead of 100 points on the pentathlon field entering the NCAA Indoor Championships. Johnson ran a leg on ASU's victorious 4 x 400 relay and tied for third in the high jump at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation meet. Johnson, a senior from Yuma, Ariz., is the defending NCAA champion in the pentathlon and the heptathlon.
Women's Coach: Greg Kraft, Arizona State
Kraft's Sun Devils haven't slowed down since last year, when they won NCAA team championships indoors and outdoors. Arizona State won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title earlier this month. Kraft is in his 11th season at Arizona State.
Women's Assistant: David Dumble, Arizona State
Dumble's expertise in the throwing events has played a pivotal role in Arizona State's success. Sarah Stevens is the national leader and defending NCAA indoor champion in the shot put, and her teammate, Jessica Pressley, won last year's NCAA outdoor title. Both Pressley and Stevens are ranked in the top ten in the women's weight throw this season. Pressley is ranked 5th and Stevens is 6th. Dumble was an All-American discus thrower at UCLA.
South Region
Women's Track: Sarah Bowman, Tennessee
Bowman successfully defended her Southeastern Conference titles in the mile and the 3,000 meters. With a best of 4:36.51, she will be one of the leading contenders in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and she will also anchor Tennessee's outstanding distance medley. Bowman is a junior from Warrenton, Va.
Women's Field: Brittney Reese, Mississippi
Reese earned the Commissioner's Trophy at the Southeastern Conference Championships by virtue of her wins in the the long jump and high jump and second-place finish in the triple jump. She was also sixth in the 60 meters. Her winning long jump of 22-6½ shattered her own U.S. collegiate record. Reese, a junior from Gulfport, Miss., finished second in the long jump at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Women's Coach: J.J. Clark, Tennessee
Clark's Lady Vols finished a strong second to LSU, the nation's top-ranked team, at the Southeastern Conference Championships. Tennessee has NCAA contenders in a number of events, including Courtney Champion in the 60 meters and Sarah Bowman in the mile. Clark is in his sixth season at Tennessee following a successful run as a Florida assistant. He was a sub-four minute miler as an undergraduate at Villanova.
Women's Assistant: Brian O'Neal, Mississippi
O'Neal's sprinters and hurdlers helped Ole Miss claim its best-ever women's finish (sixth) at the Southeastern Conference Championships. O'Neal has coached 10 All-Americans during his 10 years on the Ole Miss staff. He was an All-SEC performer for the Rebels in the early 1990s.
Northeast Region
Women's Track: Marisa Ryan, Boston University
Ryan was the top track performer at the America East Conference meet, winning the mile and the 3,000 meters as the Terriers claimed the team championship. Ryan, a senior from Farmington, Conn., is a two-time America East Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Women's Field: Tamara Highsmith, Connecticut
Highsmith won the triple jump and placed third in the pentathlon in leading the Huskies to the Big East Conference women's indoor title. She won the triple jump at the ECAC Championships and will compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event. Highsmith is a senior from East Haven, Conn.
Women's Coach: Bill Morgan, Connecticut
UConn won a "triple crown" this winter, sweeping the Big East Conference, New England and ECAC championships. The Big East women's title was the first in program history. Morgan is in his 27th year at UConn, the last four as head women's coach.
Women's Assistant: Clive Terrelonge, Connecticut
Terrelonge's work with UConn's sprinters and hurdlers helped the Huskies claim Big East, New England and ECAC titles this winter. Terrelonge is in his fourth season as a Connecticut assistant. As a student-athlete at former Division III powerhouse, Lincoln (Pa.) University, Terrelonge was tutored by USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Coach Cyrus Jones.
Midwest Region
Women's Track: Nickesha Anderson, Kansas
Anderson won the 60 meters at the Big 12 Conference meet in 7.22 seconds, an automatic NCAA qualifier. She has the nation's second-fastest time in the 200 (22.94) entering this weekend's national meet in Fayetteville. Anderson won 12 NAIA titles at Missouri Baptist before transferring to Kansas. She is a senior from Hanover, Jamaica.
Women's Field: Brittany Riley, Southern Illinois
As defending champion and the holder of the world best in the weight throw, Riley enters the NCAA Indoor Championships as an overwhelming favorite. She won last year's NCAA title with the history's longest throw ever, 83-10¼, and her 2008 best of 79-6 is nearly nine feet farther than her closest competitor. Riley is a senior from Flossmoor, Ill.
Women's Coach: Matt Bingle, Minnesota
Competing at home in the University Fieldhouse, Minnesota won its second straight Big Ten Conference championship. The Gophers were helped greatly by their 19 points in the 800 meters. Bingle's two seasons as the women's head coach have resulted in the only Big Ten titles in program history.
Women's Assistant: Gary Wilson, Minnesota
Wilson served 21 years as Minnesota's head coach before handing the reins over to Matt Bingle in 2007. But Wilson has stayed on as an assistant in charge of the distance events, and his runners played instrumental roles in the Gophers' back-to-back Big Ten indoor titles. Heather Dorniden is a five-time All-American, and Minnesota's distance medley is a contender for honors at the upcoming NCAA indoor meet.
South Central Region
Women's Track: Kelly Baptiste, LSU
Baptiste won the Southeastern Conference title in the 60 meters in a meet-record 7.13 seconds, the fastest collegiate time of the year. Baptiste will double in the 60 and 200 at the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships for the top-ranked Tigers. A senior from Plymouth, Trinidad, Baptiste has earned nine All-America certificates for LSU.
Women's Field: Andrea Linton, LSU
Linton glided to a personal-best 44-6¼ in winning the triple jump at the Southeastern Conference Championships. The day before, she registered another career best in winning the long jump at 20-10. Linton finished fifth in the triple jump at last year's NCAA outdoor meet. She is a junior from Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Women's Coach: Darryl Anderson, Texas Christian
With victories in 12 events, the Horned Frogs won their first Mountain West Conference women's indoor title. Virgil Hodge (60 meters) and Neidra Covington (triple jump) are highly ranked heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships. Anderson is in his fourth season at TCU's head track and field coach.
Women's Assistant: Vince Anderson, Texas A&M
Long considered one of the top sprint coaches in the country, Anderson has assembled another outstanding group of speedsters this winter. At the Big 12 Conference meet, Simone Facey set a school record in the 60 meters (7.23) while Porscha Lucas clocked a world-leading 22.86 in winning the 200 meters. Anderson is in his fourth season on Pat Henry's staff at Texas A&M.
Southeast Region
Women's Track: Brianna Felnagle, North Carolina
The reigning NCAA outdoor champion in the 1,500 meters stayed on the same fast track this winter. Felnagle clocked 4:37.07 in the mile for a third-place finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and doubled back the same day to place second in the 800 meters. Felnagle qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the mile and the 3,000 meters (9:09.57). She is a junior from Tacoma, Wash.
Women's Field: Brittany Pryor, Virginia Tech
Pryor's victories in the weight throw and shot put served as bookends for Virginia Tech's second straight women's title at the Atlantic Coast Conference meet. She qualified for both events at the NCAA Indoor Championships with bests of 65-11½ (weight) and 54-9½ (shot). Pryor is a junior from Niagra Falls, N.Y.
Women's Coach: Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech
Cianelli's women won six events en route to their second straight team title at the Atlantic Conference Championships. His throwers were once again anchored the winning effort, led by ACC double champion Brittany Pryor. Cianelli is in his seventh season as Virginia Tech's director of track and field.
Women's Asistant: Berry Shumpert, Coastal Carolina
In the second year of his third coaching stint at Coastal Carolina, Shumpert brought out the best in his sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. The Lady Chanticleers swept top honors in the sprints and hurdles while winning the Big South Conference indoor title with 202½ points.
Mountain Region
Women's Track: Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech
Kipyego defended her titles in the mile and 3,000 meters at the Big 12 Championships, setting a meet record in the mile (4:36.31). She also has the nation's top collegiate time in the 5,000 meters at 15:32.09. In three seasons at Texas Tech, Kipyego has won five NCAA titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, including the 3,000 and 5,000 at last year's indoor meet. She is a junior from Marakwet, Kenya.
Women's Field: Blessing Okagbare, UTEP
Okagbare is ranked in the top three in the long jump (21-10) and triple jump (44-9) entering the NCAA Indoor Championships. She won both events at the Conference USA meet, setting meet records in both events as the Miners finished second in the team scoring.
Women's Coach: Bob Kitchens, UTEP
Kitchens guided UTEP to a second-place finish behind Rice at the Conference USA Championships. The Miners won three events and had nine top-three finishes in scoring 114½ points to Rice's 133½ points. Kitchens has been the head coach at UTEP since 1988.
Women's Assistant: Calvin Robinson, UTEP
In his second season at UTEP, Robinson furthered his reputation as an excellent jumps coach. Blessing Okagbare won the long jump and triple jump at the Conference USA Championships, and she'll be joined at the NCAA Indoor Championships by teammate Nelly Tchayem in the triple jump.
Great Lakes Region
Women's Track: Nicole Edwards, Michigan
In addition to anchoring Michigan's collegiate-leading distance medley, Edwards has the top individual time in the mile at 4:33.23. She won the Big Ten Conference title in the mile and placed second in the 3,000 meters. Edwards, a senior co-captain from Winnipeg, Manitoba, ran on Michigan's victorious distance medley at the 2005 NCAA indoor meet.
Women's Field: Stevi Large, Akron
Large was named the top field performer at the Mid-America Conference Championships after winning the weight throw and placing second in the shot put. Her 70-3½ best in the weight throw ranks third on the collegiate list. She finished 14th in the weight at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships. Large is a junior from Somerset, Ohio.
Women's Coach: Kelly Lycan, Western Michigan
Western Michigan finished a close second at the Mid-American Conference meet. The Broncos followed up their conference showing by setting an MAC record in the 4 x 400 relay at the Alex Wilson Invitational, clocking 3:34.88. Lycan is in his fifth season as Western Michigan's head coach.
Women's Assistant: Mike McGuire, Michigan
The quality of McGuire's middle and long-distance program is evident on this year's indoor list. Geena Gall has the nation's top collegiate time in 800 (2:03.37), Nicole Edwards ranks first in the mile (4:33.23) and Michigan's distance medley leads the list by more than five seconds (11:01.51). McGuire is in his 18th season at Michigan.
