2016 Conference Carolinas Women's Indoor Track & Field Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2016 Conference Carolinas Women's Indoor Track and Field Major Awards have been announced today. Barton College's Sharon Kiptoo was voted the 2016 Conference Carolinas Women's Track Most Valuable Performer, while North Greenville University's Shekinah Wilder was named the 2016 Field Most Valuable Performer. University of Mount Olive's Paulena Kremling was tabbed the Freshman of the Year and Mount Olive point man Matt van Lierop was named the Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.
Kiptoo won the 800-meter run at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships with a time of 2:19.85, which broke the meet record of 2:21.53 set by Ashly Sutherland of Converse College in 2014 and her own indoor school record of 2:20.57. She would add a runner-up finish in the mile with a time of 5:17.51, which surpassed the Barton record of 2:22.01 set by Ericka Skinner at the league’s inaugural meet in 2013. Kiptoo capped her day by anchoring Barton’s 4x400-meter relay team, which took home second place with a season-best time of 4:05.61. The sophomore transfer was a two-time Conference Carolinas Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
Wilder was a dual-threat for the Crusaders this season, as she took part in both field and track events. Wilder set school records in the triple jump and long jump and was part of the first-place 4x400 relay team that also set a school record. Her triple jump distance of 11.39m earned her a first-place finish at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships, while her 5.45m long jump earned her a second-place finish.
Kremling posted first-place finishes in the mile and 3000-meter runs to help lead Mount Olive to its third consecutive Conference Carolinas Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship. Kremling also placed third in the 800m run and finished with a team-high 26 points for the Trojans.
van Lierop wins his third consecutive Conference Carolinas Women’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year award after guiding the Trojans to their third straight championship. Including men’s and women’s cross country, the award is van Lierop’s third conference coach of the year award in 2015-16 and 15th overall during his tenure at Mount Olive. With the title, the UMO women’s indoor track and field team becomes the first women’s team in school history and third team overall to win at least three consecutive conference championships.
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 12 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Emmanuel College and Southern Wesleyan University are currently completing the NCAA DII membership process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.