<ir="ltr">NEW ORLEANS — Prior to the start of competition at nationals, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its selections for the Regional Athletes-of-the-Year and Coaches-of-the-Year for the 2016 outdoor season. The Carleton College track and field programs took home four of the eight Central Region awards.
Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches, and Hart Hornor (Sr./Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) was selected as the Central Region’s men’s track athlete-of-the-year. For the third consecutive year, Amelia Campbell (Sr./Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay) was tabbed the women’s field athlete-of-the-year.
Additionally, women’s head coach Donna Ricks earned her second regional Coach-of-the-Year award over the last three seasons, while the men’s program saw Josh Schoen selected as the men’s Assistant Coach-of-the-Year.
Hornor will compete in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the upcoming NCAA Championships. He is ranked third in Division III for the 10K (29:35.63) and sits 10th on the national list in the 5K (14:19.09). He was previous chosen as both the MIAC’s Outstanding Track Athlete for 2016, and his 5,000-meter run victory was voted the Outstanding Performance of the MIAC Championships.
Campbell enters nationals with the top score in D-III this season for the heptathlon at 5,058 points. She is also nationally ranked in the high jump and 100-meter hurdles but will not compete in those two events at the NCAA Championships. Earlier this month, Campbell was named the MIAC’s Outstanding Field Athlete and received the Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet award for her dominant win in the heptathlon.
Ricks is in her 23rd season as head women’s cross country and track and field coach at Carleton. She guided her squad to a second-place result at the MIAC Outdoor Championships and will be coaching four athletes at the national meet this week.
Schoen, in his ninth season coaching distance and mid-distance at Carleton, coached Hornor to the 10,000-meter victory against D-I competition at the Drake Relays. Thanks to Schoen’s work, the Carleton men will have three entries at the NCAA Championships.