Individual Awards for 2015 Women's Indoor Track and Field Announced
High Point, NC – Conference Carolinas announces the
individual award winners following this past weekend’s
Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championships. Awards
include Track Most Valuable Performer, Field Most Valuable
Performer, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year for both the
men and women. Head coaches from conference member institutions
nominate and then vote post-championship on the award winners who
represent the best of the best for the league.
Women’s Track Most Valuable
Performer
Lucy Schmitz, Belmont
Abbey
Belmont Abbey distance runner Lucy Schmitz is the first athlete
in men's and women's track and field to be named most valuable
athlete. The 2013 Indoor Freshman of the
Year, Schmitz won Conference Carolinas titles in the 5000
meter run and the 1 mile run and added a second place finish in the
3000 meter run to lead the Crusaders women's Track & Field team
to a fifth place finish at the Conference Carolinas indoor
championships. Schmitz is now a seven time all-conference
selection as she won the 5000 meter run by two seconds and the one
mile run by four seconds. She repeats as runner up in the 3000, as
she was four seconds off the pace. She scored 28 of the
Crusaders 51 points.
Women’s Field Most Valuable
Performer
Maegan Henry, King
For the second straight year, Henry has been named Conference
Carolinas Indoor Field Most Valuable Player after winning
conference titles in both the weight throw and shot put. At this
year’s championships the Bluefield, Va., native set an NCAA
Provisional qualifying mark of 13.95 meters in the shot put,
winning the event by nearly a full meter. In the weight throw, she
posted a mark more than one meter farther than her closest
competitor with a toss of 15.75 meters. The senior has won the
weight throw at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships each
of the last three years, the shot put each of the last two
years.
Women’s Freshman of the
Year
Amelia Martin, King
In her first Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships, Martin
turned in a stellar performance as the 2014 Conference Carolinas
Freshman of the Year garnered the same distinction during the
indoor track and field season. The Blacksburg, S.C., native
finished in the top six in all three events she entered. First, she
finished fifth in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 19:35.30, and
followed that with a 3,000 meter time of 11:04.77, taking fourth.
She finished the meet with a sixth place finish in the mile,
posting a personal best time of 5:38.91.
Women’s Coach of the
Year
Matt van Lierop, Mount Olive
Matt van Lierop adds two more trophies to his mantelpiece,
earning Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year honors
for the second straight year and winning Women’s Indoor Track
and Field Coach of the Year for the first time. Coach van Lierop
has now won all four Conference Carolinas track and field coach of
the year awards: men’s indoor, women’s indoor,
men’s outdoor and women’s outdoor. The University of
Mount Olive men’s team spent the final three weeks of the
regular season ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Division II Men’s
Indoor Track and Field Southeast Region Top 10. The Trojan
women’s team spent the final two weeks ranked No. 3 in the
USTFCCCA Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Southeast
Region Top 10.
Women’s Track Conference
Champions
University of Mount Olive