Track and Field rakes in three region awards
By Braden Way on Monday, February 28th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Information provided by EOU Athletics) The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its NAIA Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year award winners late Thursday afternoon. Mountaineers Track & Field had a pair of coaches and one student-athlete make the list.
Head coach Ben Welch was named the West Region Men’s Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year for the indoor track and field season. He is in his 31st year at Eastern Oregon, has the Mountaineers ranked No. 24 in the latest USTFCCCA National Rating Index and No. 1 in the West Region. The Mountaineers have four athletes ranked among the top-15 across three events.
Earning Men’s field Athlete of the Year honors for the West Region is multi-event athlete TJ Davis. He garnered the award for the first time in his collegiate career. Davis enters the NAIA Indoor National Championships in the heptathlon as the top-ranked multi-event athlete with 5,248 points. His point total came at the Washington State Invitational and is the second highest mark all-time in EOU indoor history.
Connor Bracken was named the West region Assistant Men’s Coach of the Year, which is his first career award while with the Mountaineers. Bracken, in his fourth year as assistant coach at Eastern Oregon, coached the Mountaineers to a No. 4 NAIA #EventSquad ranking in the high jump. Three of his athletes ranked in the top-12 in the heptathlon, including national leader T.J. Davis.
The Mountaineers will now prepare for the NAIA Indoor National Championships, which will take place March 3-5 in Brookings, S.D. at Dakota State University.
Photo from EOUsports.com.
