Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Awards Announced

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The outdoor track and field specialty awards were decided on by the League coaches on Tuesday morning. Youngstown State and Milwaukee garnered the most awards, along with Loyola and Valparaiso.

The Newcomers of the Year for track were Milwaukee's Lauren Grant and Loyola's Sam Penzenstadler. Grant won the 400m dash at the league championships, finishing in 56.50 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in UWM history. Penzenstadler took the Horizon League title in the 1,500m run and finished third in the 800m run at the outdoor championships earlier this month.

Makayla Martin (YSU) and Aaron Dillon (UWM) were named the Newcomers of the Year for the field events.  Martin placed third in the high jump event with a height of 1.63m. Dillon, who also won the Newcomer of the Year award during the indoor season, scored in four different events for the Panthers. The freshman won the triple jump, finished runner-up in the 110m hurdles (14.54), and took third in both the high jump and long jump. He had the second-highest number of points (29) during the competition.

The Most Outstanding Performers for track were YSU's Ciara Jarrett and Valpo's Julian Smith. Jarrett won the 100m and the 200m dashes, finishing the 100m with a time of 11.83 seconds and the 200m in a season-best time of 24.19 seconds. Smith broke the previous League record in the 100m dash, winning the event with a time of 10.56 seconds. The sophomore also earned a victory in the 200m dash by crossing the line in 21.41.

Youngstown State teammates Alison Roth and Bobby Grace won the Most Outstanding Performer award for the field events. Roth had two Horizon League victories (discus and shot put) to earn her team 20 points. She set a new school record in the discus with a mark of 47.58m and had the third-best throw in school history in the shot with a throw of 14.16m. Grace scored the most points by any individual at the meet with 30 points by winning the shot put, hammer throw and the discus. He set a new meet record in the shot put with a mark of 18.30m, won the hammer throw with a mark of 57.98m and had the top distance of 50.29m in the discus.

After winning the women's team title, YSU coach Brian Gorby was named the Coach of the Year for teh 18th time in his career. Corfeld was named Coach of the Year on the men's side after the men's team won its ninth-straight outdoor championship and its 18th-consecutive overall League title. That mark stands as the longest active streak in the nation. It is Corfeld's 47th Coach of the Year honor.

FEMALE: 

Newcomer of the Year (Track): Lauren Grant, Milwaukee

Newcomer of the Year (Field): Makayla Martin, Youngstown State

Most Outstanding Performer (Track): Ciara Jarrett, Youngstown State

Most Outstanding Performer (Field): Alison Roth, Youngstown State

Coach of the Year: Brian Gorby, Youngstown State

MALE:

Newcomer of the Year (Track): Sam Penzenstadler, Loyola

Newcomer of the Year (Field): Aaron Dillon, Milwaukee

Most Outstanding Performer (Track): Julian Smith, Valparaiso

Most Outstanding Performer (Field): Bobby Grace, Youngstown State

Coach of the Year: Pete Corfeld, Milwaukee