LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the league office today announced its 2015 Women's Outdoor Track & Field postseason awards.
Bailey Drury of Trinity Univeristy was selected as SCAC Women's Track Athlete-of-the-Year while Meredith Berger of Texas Lutheran University was voted SCAC Women's Field Athlete-of-the-Year. Nkolika Nweke of Trinity took home the SCAC Women's Track & Field Newcomer-of-the-Year honors while the Trinity coaching staff, led by head coach Marcus Whitehead, was selected Women's Track & Field Staff-of-the-Year.
Drury, a junior from Tampa, Fla., was the high point scorer at the 2015 conference meet - earning SCAC Female Athlete-of-the-Meet honors in the process. She took first in the 400 meters with a time of 58.51, second in the 200 meters with a time of 26.14, and was third in the 100 meters with a time of 12.79. She also was on the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relays teams. The 4x100 relay team currently sits 14th in Division III with a mark of 48.01, which is a Trinity school record.
Drury earned three first place votes from the coaches while the remaining two votes went to Rebecca Lavietes of Colorado College.
Berger, a sophomore from Weimar, Texas, is one of those athletes that goes virtually unnoticed throughout the meet, but scored 24 points in the throws to help lead her team to a second-place overall finish. She was the champion in the shot put with a throw of 11.45 meters (37-6 3/4 ft), and came up with a big throw in the discus of 33.01 meters (108-4 ft) to earn second place in that event. She also posted a third-place finish in the javelin with a toss of 26.30 meters (86-3 ft). Berger also competed and reached the finals in the hammer with a seventh place finish toss of 25.94 meters (85-1 ft). The 24 points she scored were third overall in the running for high-point athlete at the SCAC championships and first among those who participated in only field events.
Berger earned three first place votes from the coaches in garnering SCAC Women's Field Athlete-of-the-Year while Trinity's Britney Sullivan earned the remaining two votes.
Nweke, a freshman from Pearland, Texas, won the 100 and 200 meters at the 2015 SCAC Championship. She also ran on the winning 4x100 relay team. Her times of 12.21 in the 100 and 25.26 in the 200 are both Trinity school records and rank 23rd and 30th, respectively, in Division III.
Nweke earned four of the five votes from the coaches for Newcomer-of-the-Year while Texas Lutheran's Haley Lasseter earned the remaining vote.
Finally, the SCAC Women's Track & Field Staff-of-the-Year honor went to the Trinity University staff after another outstanding season. The Tigers narrowly won the SCAC women's track & field championship, defeating second-place Texas Lutheran by just 13 points.
The Trinity staff earned three votes while Texas Lutheran earned the remaining two votes.
2015 SCAC Women's Track & Field Postseason Awards
Track Athlete of the Year: Bailey Drury, Trinity University
Field Athlete of the Year: Meredith Berger, Texas Luthearn University
Newcomer of the Year: Nkolika Nweke, Trinity Univesity
Staff of the Year: Trinity University (Marcus Whitehead, Head Coach)
