SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman, Samford and Western Carolina each claimed two honors as the Southern Conference indoor track and field men’s and women’s specialty awards were announced Wednesday.
 
There are eight awards in total, which were voted on by the league’s nine indoor coaches.
 
VMI’s Jordin Poindexter, who earned the Heath Whittle Award (Most Outstanding Athlete) as the top point-scorer at the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships at his home track at the Corps Physical Training Facility over the weekend, was voted the Male Most Outstanding Track Performer after winning three events on Sunday. The senior from Richmond, Virginia, won the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash and ran the second leg on VMI’s victorious 4x400-meter relay. He is VMI’s first winner of the Male Most Outstanding Track Performer award.
 
Furman’s Madelynne Cadeau was voted the Female Most Outstanding Track Performer after scoring 20 points at the meet. The sophomore from Cumming, Georgia, earned the distinction after winning both the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter run, defending her 2021 titles in both events. She is Furman’s third winner of the award, joining Allie Buchalski, who won in 2015 and 2016, and Savannah Carnahan, who took the honor in 2020.
 
Her teammate Sierra Bower is the Female Freshman of the Year. The Carbondale, Colorado, native finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run and fifth in the 5,000-meter run. She is Furman’s fourth freshman of the year on the women’s side and first since 2018.
 
Western Carolina’s Javell Brown claimed Male Most Outstanding Field Performer honors after winning both the long jump and triple jump. The Auburndale, Florida, native and Tusculum transfer turned in a personal-best and facility-record jump of 15.46 meters in the triple jump and unleashed a personal-best leap of 7.32 meters in the long jump. Brown is WCU’s third winner of the award, joining Matt Evans and Jared Johnson, who both won it twice.
 
Catamount freshman Justin Hayes was named the Male Freshman of the Year. The Cary, North Carolina, native finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run and sixth in the 5,000-meter run. Hayes is Western Carolina’s 14^th winner of the Male Freshman of the Year award and the first since 2019.
 
Wofford’s Netanya Linares was voted the Female Most Outstanding Field Performer after winning the high jump and the pentathlon and finishing eighth in the pole vault to total 21 points at the meet. She won three of the five events in the pentathlon, claiming the 60-meter hurdles, the high jump and long jump. She is Wofford’s first winner of the Female Most Outstanding Field Performer award.
 
Tiffin was named the men’s coach of the year for the third straight season after leading the Bulldogs to their third straight title. He was named the women’s coach of the year for the sixth time in seven years after leading his female charges to their seventh straight title.
 
 
Male Most Outstanding Track Performer
Jordin Poindexter, VMI
 
Female Most Outstanding Track Performer
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
 
Male Most Outstanding Field Performer
Javell Brown, Western Carolina
 
Female Most Outstanding Field Performer
Netanya Linares, Wofford
 
Male Freshman of the Year
Justin Hayes, Western Carolina
 
Female Freshman of the Year
Sierra Bower, Furman
 
Men’s Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin, Samford
 
Women’s Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin, Samford