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SUWANEE, Ga. – Zach Brush of Trinity
University and Erica Cook of Millsaps College were voted 2011
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Men’s and
Women’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year, respectively, and Andrew
Maryott of Rhodes College and Courtney Lauer of DePauw University
were selected the 2011 Men’s and Women’s Field
Athlete-of-the-Year, respectively, in exclusive voting by the head
outdoor track & field coaches of the conference.
In that same balloting, John Kieffer of Centre College and George
Warren of Trinity University were named Men’s
Co-Newcomer-of-the-Year while Elizabeth Krug of Hendrix College
earned the award on the women’s side.
It is the first year that the coaches have voted for these awards.
Prior to the 2011 outdoor season, the high-point scorers at the
SCAC championship meet (man and woman) were named the
league’s Athlete-of-the-Year.
In additional voting, the Centre College coaching staff, led by
head coach Lisa Owens, was selected as the Men’s
Staff-of-the-Year while the Rhodes College coaching staff, led by
head coach Robert Shankman, was voted Women’s
Staff-of-the-Year.
Zach Brush, a senior from Edmond, Okla., won all three events he
entered for Trinity at the 2011 SCAC Championships. He won the 800
meter run in a SCAC meet record time of 1:53.50 and became the
first man to ever win four straight 800 meter events at the
conference championship meet. His 800 meter conference meet
performance currently ranks him 15th in the country. Brush also won
the 1,500 meter run with a finishing time of 3:56.28, and he
anchored Trinity’s first-place 4x400 meter relay team.
Brush received eight votes for Men’s Track
Athlete-of-the-Year while senior Clinton Cahall of Centre received
the remaining three votes.
Erica Cook, a senior from Gainesville, Fla., won the 100 and 200
meter dash at the 2011 conference meet and was the anchor leg of
Millsaps’ 4x100 meter relay team that placed third. Cook set
a new SCAC record in the 100 meters at the conference championships
with a finishing time of 12.13, and she is currently ranked first
in the nation among all Division III runners. Cook has
automatically qualified for nationals in the event with a time of
11.97, and she has also qualified provisionally in the 200 meters
with a time of 25.19. Cook is currently undefeated this season
against all Division III competition in the 100 meters.
In a very close vote, Cook received four votes for Women’s
Track Athlete-of-the-Year to squeak by seniors Kasey Jackson of
Centre and Molly Buck of Rhodes, who received three votes each.
Junior Kelly Myers of Southwestern University received the
remaining first-place vote.
Rhodes’ Andrew Maryott, a senior from East Dennis, Mass., won
the shot put, discus throw, and hammer throw at the 2011 SCAC
Championships. He broke the SCAC meet record in the hammer with a
toss of 167 feet, 9 inches and completed his career sweep of the
event. With 30 points scored at this year’s championship
meet, Maryott won the “high-point” award and was named
2011 SCAC Male Athlete-of-the-Meet.
Maryott received six votes from the coaches in the balloting for
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year to edge senior Chrys Jones of
Centre, who received the remaining five votes.
Courtney Lauer, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., finished with the
high-point total at the 2011 SCAC Championships as she scored 42
points for DePauw and was named Female Athlete-of-the-Meet. Lauer
won the javelin, and placed second in the shot put, triple jump,
and long jump. She also finished fourth in the high jump. Lauer is
currently a provisional qualifier in the heptathlon (sixth) and
javelin (23rd).
Lauer garnered six votes in earning Women’s Field Athlete of
the Year honors. Sophomore Elana Edwards of Trinity received three
votes while junior Emily Niehaus of Centre received the remaining
two votes.
John Kieffer, a freshman from Dublin, Ohio, had an outstanding
first SCAC Championships for Centre. In just his second time
running the event, Kieffer finished second in the 3000-meter
steeplechase with a time of 9:45.23 (only 1/100 of a second off of
the current school record). The following day, he raced both the
1,500 and 5,000 meters and placed seventh and sixth respectively.
Kieffer’s 13-point contribution helped secure the first-ever
SCAC team title for the Centre men.
George Warren, a freshman from Georgetown, Texas, won conference
titles in the high jump, matching his season best of 6 feet, 6
inches, and as a member of Trinity’s 4x400 meter relay where
his split from the second position was a 49.5. Warren also
qualified for finals in the long jump, but an injury limited his
performance and he had to settle for a ninth-place finish. His
season best jump ranks as the fifth-best mark in the conference
this year.
Kieffer and Warren each received five votes to share the
Men’s Newcomer-of-the-Year award. First-year Josh Hirakawa of
Sewanee-The University of the South picked up the remaining
first-place vote.
Elizabeth Krug, a freshman from Heber Springs, Ark., scored 32
points individual points for Hendrix at the SCAC Championship
(third-highest point total of the event), garnering all-SCAC honors
in the pole vault, high jump and 400 meters along with a scoring
position in the javelin and 200 meters. Krug is ranked in the top
ten, regionally, in the 400 meters, pole vault, and javelin, and
currently is the regional leader (and 10th nationally) in the
heptathlon with 4,409 points.
Krug received six votes in the balloting for Women’s
Newcomer-of-the-Year. First-year Tiarra Goode of
Birmingham-Southern College picked up three first-place votes and
Amy Handelman of Rhodes and Ky’Laine Rogers of Oglethorpe
University each received one vote.
Owens led the Centre College men to their first-ever conference
championship in the sport of men’s track and field in the
school’s 49th year in the CAC/SCAC. Centre posted 168.5
points to edge second-place and host Rhodes College, who finished
with 152 points. The Colonels posted 11 all-SCAC performances over
the two-day event in earning the historic team win. The
Staff-of-the-Year honor is also the first time a Centre College
coach has earn postseason recognition in the sport, although Owens
was selected SCAC Men’s Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year
following the 2008 season.
The Centre College coaching staff received eight votes in the
Men’s Staff-of-the-Year vote, with the staffs from DePauw
(Kori Stoffregen, head coach), Oglethorpe (Jan Spiro, head coach)
and Trinity (David Svoboda, head coach) each receiving one
vote.
Shankman and his staff were named the league’s women’s
track and field Staff-of-the-Year after leading the Lynx to their
fourth consecutive women’s title. The Rhodes women won seven
individual events and both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in earning a
54.5-point win over DePauw. The 54.5 point winning margin
represented the largest since 2006 (81). This marks the seventh
time Shankman has won coach of the year honors on the women’s
side of the sport – having been previously honored in the
team’s other championship years of 1996, 1998, 2002, 2008,
2009 and 2010. He has also been the men’s COTY/SOTY five
times (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2010) – giving him 12 total
track and field COTY/SOTY honors - the most combined track and
field COTY/SOTY awards in league history.
The Rhodes College staff received 10 votes in the Women’s
Staff-of-the-Year balloting, while DePauw (Kori Stoffregen, head
coach) received the remaining vote.
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