The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced the 2010 winners of the USTFCCCA Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year honors.
Oklahoma State's Colby Lowe has been named the Midwest Region Men's Athlete of the Year, while Oklahoma coach Martin Smith earned the Midwest Region Men's Coach of the Year accolade. Iowa State's Corey Ihmels (Midwest) and Texas' Steve Sisson (South Central) each earned Women's Coach of the Year honors.
Men's Athlete of the Year
Colby Lowe, Oklahoma State
Lowe, a junior from Southlake, Texas, won the NCAA Midwest Regional in the final stretch with a kick that caught Oklahoma's Kevin Schwab by just four-hundredths of a second. The Cowboy was third at the Big 12 Championships, recording his third-straight, top-five league finish of his career and was the winner of this fall's Chile Pepper Festival.
Men's Coach of the Year/Roy Griak Award
Martin Smith, Oklahoma
The Sooners, led by sixth-year coach Smith, won their first NCAA Midwest Regional title in school history with a 43-50 victory over No. 1 Oklahoma State. Oklahoma placed three in the top ten and five in the top 15 to claim the title. The sixth-ranked squad was third at the Big 12 Championships and won the white-division race at the Pre-National Invitational earlier this fall.
Women's Coach of the Year
Corey Ihmels, Iowa State
Ihmels' Cyclones won the NCAA Midwest Region by a 70-point margin over nearest challenger Oklahoma State. Placing four in the race's top ten, Iowa State notched just 35 points for the crown. Earlier in the season, the Cyclones recorded third-place finishes at the Big 12 Championships, Pre-National Invitational, and the Roy Griak Invitational. Ihmels, in his fourth year at ISU, has the No. 12 squad in the country.
Steve Sisson, Texas
Sisson's Longhorns won 46-71 over Rice for the NCAA South Central Regional title. UT had four runners in the regional top ten for the victory. Texas, ranked 24th nationally, was fifth at the Big 12 Championships and in the blue race at the Pre-National Invitational earlier this fall. Sisson is in his fifth season with Texas.