Half dozen Eagles earn USTFCCCA All-Region plaudits on Tuesday
February 26, 2019

Half dozen Eagles earn USTFCCCA All-Region plaudits on Tuesday

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the All-Region honorees for the 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season on Tuesday as Carson-Newman had a total of six student-athletes on the list.

USTFCCCA Release

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the All-Region honorees for the 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season on Tuesday as Carson-Newman had a total of six student-athletes on the list. 

A total of 1,612 student-athletes from 157 institutions earned All-Region honors nationwide with 801 honorees coming from the men's side and an additional 811 selections from women's teams.

David Needs program had a total of four men receiving the honor across seven events, three of which earned Southeast All-Region honors in two or more events, and two women in two separate events. 

To earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be one of the top-5 individuals in their event in their respective region. In addition, each member of a region's top-3 relay teams was also selected for the distinction. The eight regions used in NCAA DII are the Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

Luke Greer led the way with All-Region plaudits in three different events: The one mile, 3000-meter, and 5000-meter runs. The Northhampton, England native came off conference championships in latter two events over the weekend.

C-N's South Atlantic Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year Jahvad McDermott collected All-Region honors in both the triple jump and high jump. His mark over the weekend at the SAC Indoor Championships in the triple jump notched a new personal-best and school record after clearing 14.88 meters which broke the previous jump of 14.73. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native also reached the podium in the high jump with a third-place finish after clearing 2.05-meters.

Devon Moore marked the third Eagle to receive All-Southeast Region honors in multiple events earning the notoriety in the 200-meter and 60-meter dashes. Moore earned All-Conference runs in both events over the weekend with a second-place time in the 200-meter dash.

"First off I thank God because without him I wouldn't be where I'm at today," Moore said. "I'm grateful for the instruction of the coaches and this honor reaffirms that hard work delivers results and every point counts towards the team goal."

Christian Stumpf marks the final male Eagle to earn All-Region recognition as he joins his teammate McDermott as a member of the high jump. Stumpf cleared 1.95 meters at the SAC Indoor Championships over the weekend to claim 4th-place overall.

Each of the four C-N student-athletes helped the men grab a third overall finish at the SAC Championships defeating Wingate who previously beat the Eagles by over 50 points last year. C-N finishes the region rankings at No. 4, the highest mark to finish the year in over a decade.

"We had 38 new personal-best marks over the weekend and we knew that would help us for the region rankings," Coach Needs said. "When you stack us up against not just the conference teams but in the region as well, you have to like where you are at. For guys like Luke, Jahvad, and Devon, it's huge to see them be able to perform in multiple events and do it on a regional level in every single one."

Samantha Gudger (Long Jump) and Amy Zadroga (Pole Vault) were the lone women to earn the USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region award.

Gudger turned in a second-place performance in the league championships in her respective event clearing a distance of 5.56 meters for All-SAC honors.

The sophomore Zadroga placed third in the pole vault on Saturday, Feb. 23 clearing 3.35 meters on her first attempt for her second-straight All-Conference leap.

"I'm happy to receive the honor again and I'm glad me and Amy were able to help the team move up into the region rankings," Gudger said. "There's a lot of good athletes in both our conference and the region so it's great to see any one of our names on that list."

The two Eagles helped the women jump six spots in the region rankings up to No. 9. .

No program had more combined All-Region honorees than Grand Valley State with 60. Three other programs had more than 40 student-athletes selected: Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Queens (N.C.) and Lee (Tenn.).

On a conference level, nobody had more than the Northeast-10 with 164 recipients. Following that ground was the GNAC with 136 while the PSAC and MIAA each had 116.

Also, only athletes from USTFCCCA member institutions are eligible for the award.

The 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships are right around the corner with the national meet set for March 8-9 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Cneagles.com will have all future updates on qualifiers for the NCAA's when they are announced.

-CN-