2015 USTFCCCA NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Awards

NEW ORLEANS – Following the 2015 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Tuesday its inaugural class of NJCAA National Athletes of the Year, as voted on by the coaches.

Harry Mulenga and Eldred Henry of Central Arizona took the Men’s Track Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Year honors, respectively. Four-time 2015 champion Lydia Mato of Barton County was named Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Tayla Green of Coffeyville earned Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honors.

National Coaches of the Year were also announced Tuesday, with South Plains’ Chris Beene and Blaine Wiley sweeping the awards following their men’s and women’s national team title sweep. More information on those awards can be found here.

Arguably no athlete had a better championship meet than Mato, who won national titles at 1000, 3000, and 5000 meters, as well as in the mile. She opened Friday with a title at 5000 meters in 17:52.10 by more than 20 seconds. She came back about five hours later for the 3000-meter final, which she won in an indoor career-best 10:10.73 (equivalent to a 9:55.69 due to altitude, which is superior to her career PR) to win by nearly 17 seconds.

She had to run around less than an hour later for the 1000-meter prelims, in which she ran a career-best 2:58.45 for the fastest qualifying time by five seconds.

On Saturday, she won the mile in a career-best 5:03.35 by 11 seconds, and came back less than two hours later to win the 1000-meter final in 2:58.42 to win by two seconds and break her career-best from just the day before.

Earlier in the season at the Region VI Championships, she won all of the same events, in addition to a runner-up finish at 800 meters.

Mulenga also turned in a dominant distance performance, winning three individual events in the mile, 3000 and 5000.

The Central Arizona frosh had to fend off stronger challenges from his competitors in each of his races than did Mato. At 5000 meters, he held off four-time All-American Antibahs Kibiwott Kosgey of South Plains by just less than four seconds to win in a season’s best 14:57.44.

Later Friday evening, he would prevail in an even closer race as he won at 3000 meters in a career-best 8:36.47 to defeat Vincennes’ Robert Murphy by less than a second.

He concluded his weekend Saturday with another victory of less than one second, this time in the mile. He ran 4:16.17 to defeat teammate Josh Thompson.

Earlier in the season, he ran a 4:09.91 mile at New Mexico’s Don Kirby Elite that converted down because of altitude to 4:04.

Henry claimed the national men’s shot put title on Friday with a new meet-record heave of 62-7¼ (19.08m) on his third attempt over runner-up Tristan Whitehall of Coffeyville CC at 56-9¼ (17.30m). The frosh also launched a 17.75m mark on his second attempt that was superior to Whitehall’s best.

Though he finished runner-up in the weight throw the following day, that was well above his pre-meet seeding at No. 6. He uncorked a heave of 58-11½ (17.97m) on his second attempt that would survive his four consecutive fouls to close the meet for second-place honors. That mark was more than a meter better than his previous career-best of 55-3¾ (16.86m) set the weekend before.

Earlier in the season, Henry topped the NJCAA shot put record with a mark of 65-7½ (20.00m) at the GCC Indoor Invitational. Only five collegians in the country – NCAA, NJCAA and NAIA – have thrown farther this year.

The women’s National Field Athlete of the Year award also went to a national champion thrower in Greene. The Coffeyville sophomore took the weight throw title with a career-best heave of 58-4¾ (17.80m) to win by 55 centimeters over Central Arizona’s Shalise Borden. She also recorded throws of 17.28m and 17.02m.

Earlier in the indoor season she won the MSSU “Southern” Invitational with a then-career-best heave of 58-1¾ (17.72m) and finished runner-up against top NCAA Division II competition at both the Central Missouri Mule Relays and the Missouri Southern Lion Invitational.

NEW ORLEANS – It was a South Plains sweep of the men's and women's national team titles at the 2015 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Texans/Lady Texans claimed another sweep Tuesday, as head coach Chris Beene earned both Men's and Women's Head Coach of the Year honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and associate head coach Blaine Wiley earned Men's and Women's Assistant Coach of the Year plaudits.

These are the first national awards bestowed to the NJCAA by the USTFCCCA. National Athletes of the Year were also announced Tuesday.

The two men were chosen for the awards by a national vote of their NJCAA coaching peers earlier this week.

Beene, in his 11th year guiding the South Plains program, and Wiley, in his ninth year coaching the sprints/hurdles/relays/jumps at the school, led the men to a 136-116 victory over Central Arizona to live up to the No. 1 rank they maintained for all but the first edition of the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings.

Likewise, his women secured a national title with a 147.5-135 win over Iowa Central CC for their fourth title since 2009. The win was an upset of sorts, as Iowa Central had earned the top spot in the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings in four of the six weeks. South Plains was the No. 1 team in the country in early February.

En route to winning the women's national title, his Lady Texans won eight event titles: 60 meters, 400 meters, 600 meters, 800 meters, 4x400 relay, distance medley relay, the pole vault and the triple jump. His women's squad also notched a pair of runner-up finishes and two more third-place efforts.

Both Domonique Williams and Chrisann Gordon earned three titles apiece, including the two combining forces for a distance medley relay title. Gordon won at 600 and 800 meters, while Williams took the 400 meter title - an event in which Gordon set the NJCAA record earlier this season - and ran a leg of the 4x400.

The men's team was powered by five event wins: 60 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters the 4x800 relay and the heptathlon. The Texan's were a near-constant presence on the award stand, with five more runner-up finishes and four more third-place showings.

Antibahs Kibiwott Kosgey was the lone man at the meet to earn four USTFCCCA All-America honors, one of which came in the winning 4x800.