June 5, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has announced its district honors for the 2007 outdoor season with two members of the Arizona State University track and field program earning recognition for their accomplishments this year. Head Coach Greg Kraft was selected as the USTFCCCA West District Women's Coach of the Year while Sarah Stevens was tabbed as the USTFCCCA West District Co-Women's Field Athlete of the Year, sharing the honor with Washington State's Diana Pickler.
Earlier in the week, David Dumble, a sixth-year assistant coach for the Sun Devils, was selected as the 2007 USTFCCCA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year for women's throws, earning the honor for the second year in a row. All three members of the program are now finalists for national honors.
Kraft, in his 11th year at the helm of the program and recipient of the district's coaching award for the second year in a row, has kept his women ranked No. 1 in the nation all season (both indoor and outdoor) and guided them to their first national team title by winning the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., in March. Undefeated in scored team events this year, Kraft's women have won titles at the 2007 MPSF Indoor Championships, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, the 2007 Pac-10 Conference Championships and the 2007 NCAA West Region Championships. Overall, Kraft will have 12 women competing at the NCAA meet this week in Sacramento, including defending heptathlon champion Jacquelyn Johnson and throwers Stevens and Jessica Pressley, both of whom are set to battle for titles in the shot put, hammer and discus.
Stevens, a finalist for the Honda Sports Award, has turned in a stellar sophomore campaign as she enters the NCAA Championships ranked No. 1 in both the shot put and the discus while standing fifth on the order lists in the hammer. The 2007 NCAA Indoor Shot Put Champion and sixth-place finisher in the weight throw at the indoor meet, Stevens also won the shot put and the discus events at the 2007 Pac-10 Championships on the same day, making her the first female athlete to win both throws on the same day and just the fifth to win both crowns in the same meet in conference history. At the regional meet, Stevens won the discus and took second in both the shot put and the hammer with her hammer mark setting a school record. Overall, her season best toss of 18.40m in the shot put is the second-best mark in the history of the Pac-10 Conference and ranks No. 8 on the all-time NCAA lists.
The Sun Devils that have qualified will head to the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships this week with competition taking place June 6-9 at the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Complex in Sacramento, Calif.
USTFCCCA Division I District Athletes and Coaches of the Year
West
Men's Track: Galen Rupp, Oregon
Women's Track: Arianna Lambie, Stanford
Men's Field: Jake Arnold, Arizona
Co-Women's Field: Diana Pickler, Washington State, and Sarah Stevens, Arizona State
Men's Coach: Don Strametz, Cal State Northridge
Women's Coach: Greg Kraft, Arizona State
Great Lakes
Men's Track: Demi Omole, Wisconsin
Women's Track: Katie Erdman, Michigan
Men's Field: Michael Whitehead, Michigan
Women's Field: Bettie Wade, Michigan
Men's Coach: Brad Fairchild, Eastern Michigan
Women's Coach: Joe Piani, Notre Dame
Mid-Atlantic
Men's Track: Sean Quigley, La Salle
Women's Track: Shana Cox, Penn State
Men's Field: Allen Pettner, Penn State
Women's Field: Tisifenee Taylor, Monmouth
Men's Coach: Joe Compagni, Monmouth
Women's Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State
Midwest
Men's Track: Marcus Pugh, Oklahoma
Women's Track: Yvonne Mensah, Illinois
Men's Field: Scott Sellers, Kansas State
Women's Field: Brittany Riley, Southern Illinois
Men's Coach: Martin Smith, Oklahoma
Women's Coach: Gary Winckler, Illinois
Mountain
Men's Track: Lopez Lomong, Northern Arizona
Co-Women's Track: Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, and Lindsey Anderson, Weber State
Men's Field: Niklas Arrhenius, BYU
Women's Field: Ellie Rudy, Montana State
Men's Coach: Greg Gensel, Utah State
Women's Coach: Dave Nielsen, Idaho State
Northeast
Men's Track: Max Smith, Providence
Women's Track: Morgan Uceny, Cornell
Men's Field: Rory Quiller, Binghamton
Women's Field: Jillian Drouin, Syracuse
Men's Coach: John Copeland, Rhode Island
Women's Coach: Lou Duesing, Cornell
South
Men's Track: Walter Dix, Florida State
Co-Women's Track: Kerron Stewart, Auburn, and Ajoke Odumosu, South Alabama
Men's Field: Cory Martin, Auburn
Women's Field: Jenny Dahlgren, Georgia
Co-Men's Coaches: Bob Braman, Florida State, and Bill Webb, Tennessee
Women's Coach: Wayne Norton, Georigia
South Central
Men's Track: Leonel Manzano, Texas
Women's Track: Ebony Floyd, Houston
Men's Field: Andra Manson, Texas
Women's Field: Destinee Hooker, Texas
Men's Coach: John Sauerhage, Texas-Arlington
Co-Women's Coaches: Pat Henry, Texas A&M, and Dennis Shaver, LSU
Southeast
Men's Track: Josh McDougal, Liberty
Women's Track: Natasha Hastings, South Carolina
Men's Field: Andre Black, Louisville
Women's Field: Anna Raynor, North Carolina-Wilmington
Men's Coach: Ron Mann, Louisville
Women's Coach: Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech