Walker's Pace: Rupp, Eaton, Steele Honored by USTFCCCA, Final Rankings
Rupp, Eaton, Steele Honored by USTFCCCA, Final Rankings
Thursday, March 12, 11:00 a.m. PST
Time for the postseason awards to start being announced and Thursday found Oregon picking up a trifecta from the USTFCCCA.
Galen Rupp was named the West Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year, Ashton Eaton was named the Men's West Region Field Athlete of the Year and Dan Steele was named the West Region Men's Coach of the Year.
You can read excerpts from the USTFCCCA release below or click this link for the entire release.
Also, in the final USTFCCA poll, the Oregon men were ranked No. 1 for the fourth straight week, while the women moved up a spot to No. 4.
Today (Thursday) the team will head to the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium for practice at 1:30 Central Time. There will also be a press conference later in the day. The national championships get underway at 8 a.m. (PDT) Friday morning with Brianne Theisen and Kalindra McFadden in the pentathlon and Eaton shortly after 10 a.m. in the heptathlon.
FROM THE USTFCCCA PRESS RELEASE:
NEW ORLEANS ? The defending women’s shot put champion, Florida’s Mariam Kevkhishvili, and Oregon distance ace Galen Rupp lead a superb group of 72 men’s and women’s indoor track and field regional athletes and coaches of the year for the 2009 Division III indoor track and field season, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced on Thursday.
The USTFCCCA selects the top men’s and women’s track athlete, field athlete, assistant coach, and head coach for the nine regions in Division I indoor track and field.
Kevkhishvili, a junior, leads the NCAA in the women’s shot put with a toss of 58’10.25”. She was the SEC Champion in the shot and broke SEC meet and Florida school records. She is a two-time SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week in 2009 and was named the SEC’s Women’s Field Athlete of the Year.
Oregon’s Rupp has been on a torrid pace this indoor season setting a new American Record in the men’s 5,000 meters (13:18.12), and a new American Collegiate Bets in the men’s 3,000 meters (7:44.69). Along with his men’s mile school record (3:57.86), the senior has broken a total of three school records. Rupp needs only two more All-American awards to become the most decorated student-athlete in Oregon history.
WEST REGION ? Galen Rupp ? University of Oregon
Rupp is ranked first nationally in the men’s 5,000 meters (13:18.12)
which is a new American Record and all-time collegiate best. His time
in the 3,000 meters (7:44.69) is also ranked first nationally and was a
new American Collegiate Best. He has broken a school record in the
men’s mile with an automatic time of 3:57.86. Rupp has also qualified
for the Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in the men’s
800 meters (1:49.87) and as the anchor leg on the distance medley relay
that is ranked second nationally (9:29.39).
WEST REGION ? Ashton Eaton ? University of Oregon
Eaton, a junior, has the nation’s best heptathlon score this year with
a total of 6,174 points. He is the only individual over the 6,000 point
mark and has also qualified for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and
Field National Championships in the men’s long jump with a mark of
24′11".
WEST REGION ? Dan Steele ? University of Oregon
Oregon has been ranked in the top five of the USTFCCCA rankings all
season long, and has the top NCAA qualifiers in four events (800m, the
3k, the 5k, and the heptathlon). Steele coaches the team’s decathletes,
sprinters, hurdlers, and pole vaulters.
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