2016 NCAA DI Indoor National Coaches of the Year Announced

NEW ORLEANS — Juggernauts are built over time, not overnight.

Robert Johnson, Andy Powell and Tonja Buford-Bailey know this and carefully created their monsters to excel at the right time. That moment was the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Birmingham, Alabama.

Johnson’s Ducks swept the team titles, while Powell’s distance runners — namely Edward Cheserek — paved the way for the Oregon’s men. Buford-Bailey’s sprinters and relay teams continued their dominance and rolled to four NCAA titles (three individual, one relay).

Those three coaches were honored by their peers and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday. Johnson was named the Men’s and Women’s National Coach of the Year, Powell captured the award for the Men’s National Assistant Coach of the Year and Buford-Bailey took home Women’s National Assistant Coach of the Year accolades.

Johnson’s coaching and decision-making led the Ducks’ to their third consecutive men’s team title and the women’s fourth crown in the past five years under his tutelage.

While the women had to sweat out their title and only had it in the bag following their third-place finish in the 4×400 relay, the men cruised. Behind four first-place finishes (60 hurdles, 3000, 5000, DMR), Oregon scored 62 points, 23 more than runner-up Arkansas.

Of those 62 points, 43 belonged to Powell’s distance runners.

Cheserek scored 22.5 points himself with victories in the 3000 and 5000, then helped the Ducks’ winning effort in the DMR where he teamed with Matthew Maton, Ben Thiel and Grant Grosvenor. Blake Haney and Sam Prakel finished second and fourth in the mile and added 13 points of their own to Oregon’s total.

Buford-Bailey’s athletes are to sprints and relays as Powell’s are to distance events.

The Texas women stood on the podium (fourth place, 44 points) thanks to 36 points from those coached by Buford-Bailey.

Courtney Okolo won the 400 in one of the fastest times in collegiate history (50.69). Teammate Chrisann Gordon followed one second behind and took third. Teahna Daniels, who is only a freshman, captured the 60-meter title. Then Okolo and Gordon joined forces with Morolake Akinosun and Ariel Jones to bring yet another 4×400 crown back to the Forty Acres.