SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford claimed three of the Southern Conference outdoor track and field individual awards between its men’s and women’s programs in a vote of the league’s head coaches following the SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes or themselves.
Wofford’s Hannah Steelman was named the women’s most outstanding field performer, while Elijah Bull was named the men’s freshman of the year. Johnny Bomar earned his first career nod as the women’s coach of the year.
ETSU’s Ben Johnson was named the men’s most outstanding field performer and the Bucs’ Mekayla Brown was named the women’s freshman of the year. Samford’s Maggie Johnston was named the women’s most outstanding field performer, while coach Rod Tiffin shared men’s coach of the year honors with Western Carolina’s Jesse Norman. The Catamounts’ Devaniel Dale was named the men’s most outstanding track performer.
Western Carolina’s Dale scored 24 points and recorded four podium finishes at the SoCon Championships, winning the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. The junior from Salisbury, North Carolina, also ran the second legs on the Catamounts’ second-place 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays.
Wofford’s Steelman notched three podium finishes to score 24 points on the track for the Terriers, highlighted by her meet record in winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second straight season. The sophomore from Orono, Maine, finished in 10:00.79, lowering the old mark by nearly seven seconds. Steelman also finished second in the 5,000-meter run and third in the 1,500-meter run.
ETSU’s Johnson claimed the most outstanding field performer award for the second time in his career. The redshirt senior from Knoxville, Tennessee, scored 38 points, the most at the meet, earning the most outstanding athlete honor. Johnson nearly swept the throws, earning gold medals in the discus, hammer and javelin and falling just 0.01 meters shy of the win in the shot put. His discus throw of 54.53 meters supplanted the previous meet record by more than two meters.
Samford’s Johnston was the highest point-scorer on the women’s side, as she earned 28 points to secure most outstanding athlete honors. The junior from Macon, Georgia, won the shot put for the first time in her career and claimed her third straight title in the discus, turning in a mark of 51.40 meters to outdistance her own meet record by more than three meters. Johnston also took second place in the hammer throw.
Wofford’s Bull was the highest-scoring freshman on the men’s side of the championship, totaling 14 points. The rookie from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, finished second in the 400-meter hurdles and fifth in the 400-meter dash and ran legs on Wofford’s fourth-place 4x100-meter relay and sixth-place 4x400-meter relay.
ETSU’s Brown was the top-scoring women’s performer with 12 points at the meet. The freshman from Elgin, South Carolina, who also earned freshman of the year honors during the indoor season, finished third in the triple jump, sixth in the long jump and eighth in the 100-meter dash. She also ran a leg on the Bucs’ second-place 4x100-meter relay unit.
Samford’s Tiffin guided his men’s squad to a runner-up finish. The Bulldogs earned four event wins, with Emmanuel Tait claiming the 110-meter hurdles, Michael McMahan winning the 400-meter hurdles and Hugh Duggan taking the high jump. Samford also turned in one of the most exciting finishes of the weekend when its 4x400-meter relay squad ended Western Carolina’s eight-year reign in the event, winning the event by just 0.001 second in 3:15.153.
Norman guided Western Carolina’s men to their fourth straight league outdoor title and ninth overall, winning five gold medals on the weekend. In addition to Dale’s two wins, WCU saw Dijoun Huitt repeat in the triple jump, Dakota Wright win the shot put by 0.01 meter and freshman Dakota Oxendine win the high jump.
Wofford’s Bomar guided the Terrier women to their highest-ever team finish at the SoCon Championships, as they scored a program meet-record 126 points to finish as runners-up. Wofford won five women’s events on the weekend, including Steelman’s two. Senior McLeod Dean defended her titles in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, while classmate Amber Lust took gold in the 100-meter hurdles and the heptathlon.
Male Most Outstanding Track Performer
Devaniel Dale, Western Carolina
Female Most Outstanding Track Performer
Hannah Steelman, Wofford
Male Most Outstanding Field Performer
Ben Johnson, ETSU
Female Most Outstanding Field Performer
Maggie Johnston, Samford
Male Freshman of the Year
Elijah Bull, Wofford
Female Freshman of the Year
Mekayla Brown, ETSU
Men’s Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin, Samford
Jesse Norman, Western Carolina
Women’s Coach of the Year
Johnny Bomar, Wofford
-www.SoConSports.com-