The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Track Athlete, Field Athlete, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards for the 2015-16 women’s indoor track and field season. The conference coaches vote on the awards.
Stevens Institute of Technology seniors
Amy Regan and
Gladys Njoku have been named the Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year, respectively, for the third straight year. Regan and Njoku led Stevens to a program-high fourth place team finish at the NCAA Championship.
Regan capped off an outstanding 2015-16 campaign by winning a pair of National Championships at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The senior took home titles in the 5,000 meter and the 3,000 meter. Regan ran a Division III meet and school record time of 9:30.80 in the 3,000 meters. During the 5,000, Regan jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, finishing nine seconds better than second place with a mark of 16:48.62.
In early February, Regan set the school record as she ran the second fastest time in Division III history in the 5,000 meters (16:23.4) at the Armory Invitational. She also set the school record in the mile (4:51) at the Fasttrack Last Chance meet on Feb. 27 and was part of the school record setting DMR (12:04) on March 4 at the Tufts Last Chance meet. As a result of her outstanding year she was named United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Track Athlete of the Year.
Njoku successfully defended her title in the high jump at the NCAA DIII Championship with a mark of 1.75 meters. The 1.75 meters tied a season-best for Njoku, and was .3 centimeters better than the second place competitor. At the E8 Championship, Njoku tied the meet record in the high jump, with a first place jump of 1.70m. Njoku would also match her season-best of 5.17m in the long jump, good for another first place finish. She placed second in the 60-meter dash, recording a school record time of 7.97.
Ithaca College freshman
Gianna Folz was voted the Rookie of the Year. Folz is the fifth Bomber athlete to earn the E8 Rookie award. She placed second in the 60-meter hurdles at the Empire 8 Championships with a time of 9.56. She also placed third in the high jump with a mark of 1.53 meters and tenth in the long jump. On Feb. 27 at the NYSCTC Championships she took fourth place in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 9.48. Her season best mark in the high jump (1.55m) and long jump (5.23m) both occurred on Dec. 2, 2015.
The
Ithaca College staff, led by Head Coach Jennifer Potter, earned the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight year. During the season Ithaca claimed its ninth consecutive Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship as senior Eliza Dewart and junior Brandy Smith were named the athletes of the meet. The Bomber’s also claimed their 15h NYSCTC crown on Feb. 27 and on March 5 Ithaca finished first at the ECAC Championship. The coaching staff guided five women to USTFCCCA all-region honors, had four individuals qualify for the NCAA Championships and had three All-American performances.